Federal immigration authorities have launched a comprehensive nationwide investigation targeting organized networks accused of helping expectant mothers from other countries fraudulently obtain visas to give birth in the United States, according to internal communications obtained by news outlets.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement distributed an internal message Thursday directing field agents across the nation to prioritize what the agency calls its “Birth Tourism Initiative.” The investigation seeks to identify and dismantle networks that allegedly assist pregnant foreign nationals in traveling to America specifically to secure U.S. citizenship for their newborns.
The enforcement action represents part of President Donald Trump’s broader immigration strategy following his return to office in January 2025, targeting both unauthorized border crossings and legal immigration pathways. The administration has pointed to birth tourism concerns as justification for its efforts to eliminate automatic citizenship for children born on American soil.
“Uninhibited birth tourism poses a tremendous cost to taxpayers and threatens our national security,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement, adding that most nations do not provide automatic citizenship at birth.
Federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and the Justice Department declined to provide additional details when contacted for comment.
While no federal statute explicitly prohibits birth tourism, regulations established during Trump’s previous presidency in 2020 forbid using temporary visitor and business visas primarily to secure American citizenship for babies. Individuals involved in such arrangements face potential prosecution for fraud and related criminal charges.
Official statistics tracking foreign nationals who travel to the United States specifically for childbirth purposes do not exist, nor are there verified calculations of associated taxpayer expenses.
The Center for Immigration Studies, an organization advocating for reduced immigration levels, published research in 2020 suggesting approximately 20,000 to 25,000 mothers engaged in birth tourism during a twelve-month span from 2016 to 2017.
With 3.6 million total births recorded in the United States during 2025, birth tourism cases likely constitute a small percentage of overall deliveries.
Republican lawmakers have cited birth tourism allegations as grounds for restricting access to American citizenship, which has traditionally been granted at birth under constitutional amendment provisions.
On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive directive ordering federal agencies to stop recognizing citizenship for children born in America when neither parent holds U.S. citizenship or permanent residency status, marking a significant departure from established legal practice spanning more than 100 years.
Several federal judges have temporarily halted the executive order, pushing the matter to the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments last week. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, speaking for the Trump administration, argued that automatic citizenship has fostered “a sprawling industry of birth tourism.”
Sauer contended that birthright citizenship guarantees have motivated thousands from “potentially hostile nations” to travel for childbirth, “creating a whole generation of American citizens abroad with no meaningful ties to the United States.”
The new ICE enforcement initiative, led by the agency’s Homeland Security Investigations division, focuses on uncovering fraudulent activities, though the potential scope of cases remains uncertain.
“HIS is advancing efforts to protect the integrity of U.S. immigration and identification systems, specifically targeting fraudulent activities associated with birth tourism schemes,” the internal communication stated. Officials indicated they would work to disrupt “fraud, financial crimes, and organized facilitation networks that exploit lawful immigration processes.”
Federal prosecutors previously pursued a significant birth tourism case in 2019, charging more than twelve individuals in connection with “birth houses” operating in Southern California that served wealthy Chinese clients.
In what ICE described as the first federal prosecution targeting birth tourism, Chinese national Dongyuan Li admitted guilt to federal charges related to the operation. She received a ten-month prison sentence and was released in December 2019.
Another Chinese national, Chao “Edwin” Chen, received a three-year prison sentence in 2020 but had already departed the United States for China before serving his term, according to ICE records.
