The State Department announced today it will start denying visas to pregnant women it believes are coming to the United States to have their babies born as U.S. citizens. The rule takes effect tomorrow.
The practice has been legal and mothers have often been open about what they are doing. Some, however, have been secretive. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham issued a statement saying “Closing this glaring immigration loophole will combat these endemic abuses and ultimately protect the United States from the national security risks created by this practice.”
Critics question how U.S. officials will determine who is pregnant and that this could endanger some women.
“100 Questions and Answers About Immigrants to the U.S.” says the Los Angeles Times reported that a wide range, 40,000 of the 300,000 children, “born to foreign citizens in the United States each year are the product of birth tourism.” The Pew Research Center reported that 295,000 babies were born to unauthorized-immigrant parents in 2013, about 8 percent of U.S. births. That was down from 370,000 in 2007.
Learn about birth tourism and other immigration issues in “100 Questions and Answers About Immigrants to the U.S.” is available from Amazon or the Front Edge Publishing bookstore.
