Top government officials vowed Wednesday to find ways to block pregnant women from coming to the U.S. to take advantage of birthright citizenship, including trying to deny them travel visas and to prosecute the companies that assist them in making the trip.
China is a major focus, with Chinese women paying tens of thousands of dollars to “birth tourism” operators who coach them on how to get a visa, arrange for their stay and maternity care, and even help them apply for public assistance.
“This is truly a national security risk,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on Fox News.
He said one option is to deny women in late pregnancies travel visas, saying it’s not just an attempt to game U.S. law but also a danger to the baby to travel at that point.
The Justice Department has also ordered its investigators and prosecutors to launch fraud probes into the birth tourism operations.
“It’s a booming industry and it will continue, given this Supreme Court ruling yesterday,” Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Wednesday.
SEE ALSO: Supreme Court shuts down Trump’s attempt to change birthright citizenship
The Supreme Court on Tuesday shot down President Trump’s executive order trying to restrict birthright citizenship by preventing the government from recognizing children born to parents who lacked permanent legal status in the U.S.
The justices ruled 5-4 that the Constitution protects the children — including those born to illegal immigrants and those here on visitors’ visas.
Mr. Mullin called that ruling “dead wrong.”
Mr. Trump has asked Congress to search for ways to work around the edges of the ruling.
But officials said his administration can do more with the tools already at hand.
Mr. Mullin said he had conversations with Mr. Trump, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and White House border czar Tom Homan about what else to do.
The secretary said that coming to the U.S. with the specific intent to deliver a child in order to take advantage of birthright citizenship isn’t a valid reason for a travel visa.
Spotting those cases, however, can be tricky.
Court cases have revealed birth tourism operations’ expansive efforts to fool U.S. officials, including selecting certain airports where border officers are less likely to probe into pregnancies, and urging women to travel earlier in their pregnancies so they won’t be flagged.
