Trump birth tourism ban puts visa-seeking foreign parents on notice

The White House on Saturday revisited President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting so-called “birth tourism,” highlighting remarks by Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller that the practice had been banned.

In an image quote posted on its X account on Saturday, the White House quoted Miller as saying, “That practice of birth tourism is, as of the signing of this order, hereby banned.

“What that means is that no one in the world is anymore allowed to obtain a visa for this fraudulent purpose.”

Miller described the measure as one of the Trump administration’s most significant actions.

He said, “I would put this in the top 3 in terms of importance because it ends what has been one of the gravest and most egregious abuses of the American system.”

PUNCH Online reports that what the Trump administration refers to as birth tourism refers to the practice of foreign nationals travelling to the United States with the intention of giving birth there so their child can obtain US citizenship.

PUNCH Online had earlier reported the development under the headline, “Trump signs order targeting birth tourism,” following Trump’s signing of two executive orders on Thursday targeting birthright citizenship, including one directed at what his administration describes as “birth tourism.”

According to ABC News on Friday, the orders came after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s earlier attempt to end birthright citizenship through an executive order signed on the first day of his second term.

Asked how the government would distinguish between a tourist and a “birth tourist,” Miller said the administration was relying on provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

“If you’re telling a consular officer you’re here as a tourist, but your true purpose and intent is to go to a baby mill, give birth and try to mint an American citizen while you’re here and you’re committing a fraud against the American government,” Miller said.

He added, “So that practice of birth tourism is, as of the signing of this order, hereby banned.

“And what that means is that no one in the world is any more allowed to obtain a visa for this fraudulent purpose.”

Trump has said that “hundreds of thousands” of people are taking advantage of birth tourism.

However, ABC News reported that Solicitor General John Sauer gave a different response when Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts questioned him about the practice during oral arguments in April.

Sauer said, “No one knows for sure.”

According to ABC News, Sauer cited media reports estimating the number at more than 1.1 million, or 1.5 million from China alone, while also referring to congressional material about Russian elites travelling to Miami through birth tourism companies.

In the other executive order, Miller said people who would be ineligible to obtain citizenship by birthright would include “alien enemies of the United States, members of foreign terrorist organizations and large categories of people who lobby and act on behalf of foreign governments.”

Trump, meanwhile, criticised the Supreme Court’s earlier decision to uphold birthright citizenship, describing it as “very unfortunate” and saying his latest actions were adjustments following the ruling.

“We had a very unfortunate decision in the Supreme Court concerning birthright.

“It was close, but a very, very unfortunate decision. So we’re making adjustments because it’s very unfair,” Trump said.

Trump had also told journalists in the Oval Office, “They’ve taken birthright citizenship, and they’ve made a joke out of it.

Citizenship by birth is not universal, with countries generally applying either jus soli, which grants citizenship based on place of birth, or jus sanguinis, which confers citizenship through parentage, while some countries operate mixed systems combining elements of both, PUNCH Online reports.

Miller links N’York reading struggles to immigration

In a separate report, Miller again on Saturday linked reported reading difficulties among New York schoolchildren to immigration, saying the education debate was masking what he described as the “real debate.”

Miller made the comment in response to a New York Post report stating that more than half of New York pupils in grades three to five failed to demonstrate proficiency in a basic reading test.

Responding to the newspaper’s post on X, Miller wrote, “Nearly 40% of children in New York State are foreign-born or the children of migrants.

“Of that group, about 85% are migrants from the third world. The education debate (like so many others) often disguises the real debate.”

Miller did not cite a source for the figures contained in his response, PUNCH Online reports.

The comment followed the New York Post report on reading performance among New York pupils, with the newspaper highlighting the proportion of children who were not deemed proficient in the assessment.

Miller’s response did not provide evidence establishing a connection between the reported reading results and the immigration figures he cited.