The Trump administration is expanding its crackdown on birth tourism, announcing new visa restrictions targeting not only those who travel to the United States for the practice but also the networks that help facilitate it.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the new policy on September 23, saying foreign commercial operations have exploited America’s immigration system by coaching applicants to misrepresent their intentions and charging thousands of dollars to arrange births on U.S. soil. The move follows President Donald Trump’s continued efforts to combat birth tourism after the Supreme Court struck down his broader attempt to restrict birthright citizenship earlier this year.

From The Epoch Times:

The new policy applies to “individuals who knowingly engage in, have engaged in, or facilitate birth tourism to the United States, including owners, operators, and managers of commercial birth tourism facilitation networks, visa ‘fixers’ who coach applicants to commit fraud, foreign medical providers who knowingly abet and facilitate such travel and the fraudulent use of our Medicaid system, and other individuals who support, abet, and enable commercial birth tourism.”

In August, President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting birth tourism after the Supreme Court, on June 30 in a 6–3 ruling in Trump v. Barbara, struck down a January 2025 executive order he signed ending birthright citizenship.

“The Trump Administration is using every tool at our disposal to defend the integrity of U.S. citizenship, protect American public benefits and U.S. taxpayers from exploitation, and safeguard our national security,” Rubio said.

The latest action represents a narrower approach than the President’s original effort to change how birthright citizenship is applied. In Trump v. Barbara, the Supreme Court held that Trump’s January 2025 executive order violated the Fourteenth Amendment. The ruling left intact the longstanding principle that nearly everyone born on American soil receives U.S. citizenship, including children born to parents who are temporarily or unlawfully present.

The administration has since turned its attention toward the conduct surrounding birth tourism itself. State Department guidance already specifies that traveling to America primarily to give birth so that a child obtains U.S. citizenship is not a permissible basis for receiving a visitor visa. The new policy goes further by targeting those who allegedly participate in, profit from, or knowingly facilitate commercial birth-tourism schemes.

Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller has similarly argued that people should not be able to obtain tourist visas under false pretenses when their actual intention is to give birth in America. Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), meanwhile, sharply criticized the administration’s efforts, accusing Miller of attempting to undermine birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court’s June ruling makes clear that the constitutional citizenship question and the government’s authority to police visa fraud and travel for birth tourism are distinct legal issues.

The administration’s latest action therefore shifts the battle from determining who receives citizenship at birth to determining who may enter the country—and whether individuals and businesses can profit from arranging travel designed specifically to secure U.S. citizenship for children. Questions surrounding immigration, citizenship, and constitutional authority are likely to remain contentious, making wisdom and respect for the rule of law especially important. Let’s pray for President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and other officials as they enforce America’s immigration laws, and for wisdom as our leaders seek to protect both the integrity of U.S. citizenship and the constitutional principles that govern it.

Share your prayers and scriptures for wisdom and integrity in America’s immigration system in the comments.

(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett)