Rubio ramps up birth tourism crackdown hours before Xi touches down in US

The Trump administration is tightening visa rules to punish people who profit from or arrange "birth tourism," the practice of traveling to the United States solely to deliver a child who then becomes an American citizen. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the new restrictions, saying they target foreigners who "engage in or facilitate" such schemes, including industry workers and so-called fixers who instruct applicants on how to commit visa fraud. Rubio framed the move as a warning against exploiting the immigration system and undermining the value of U.S. citizenship. The timing was notable: the announcement came just hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping was set to arrive for a state visit, according to Fox News.

Chinese nationals have long been a major focus of birth tourism enforcement, with federal prosecutors having pursued cases against large operations that catered mostly to clients from China. Destinations have included maternity clinics on the West Coast as well as facilities in a U.S. Pacific territory. Representative Brandon Gill, who leads a House task force examining the issue, has pointed to both China and Russia as sources of concern. China's declining birth rate adds another dimension, since young citizens who leave for the United States could deepen the country's demographic troubles.

The crackdown fits into the broader immigration push of the Trump administration, which has also tried, without success so far, to end birthright citizenship as part of its effort to close what officials view as loopholes in the American citizenship system.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →