Washington DC - The Trump administration on Wednesday announced visa restrictions targeting people accused of engaging in or facilitating so-called "birth tourism," as it continues its push to restrict birthright citizenship.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the policy would target people who knowingly participate in or facilitate commercial "birth tourism," including network operators, visa "fixers" who allegedly coach applicants to commit fraud, and foreign medical providers accused of helping arrange such travel.
"Foreign commercial birth tourism networks have exploited the US immigration system to sell US citizenship for profit," Rubio said in a statement.
He accused such networks of coaching foreign nationals to lie on visa applications and charging tens of thousands of dollars to arrange births in the US "for the sole purpose of obtaining US citizenship."
"The United States will not allow foreigners to exploit our immigration system and violate the sanctity of US citizenship," he added.
Under the Constitution, with very limited exceptions, children born on US soil automatically acquire citizenship at birth.
Since the start of his second term, Trump has sought to restrict birthright citizenship for certain groups, but his efforts have faced legal challenges.
The Supreme Court recently struck down an executive order that would have denied citizenship to children born to undocumented parents or parents with temporary status.