The State Department has revoked nearly 900 visas since launching its Birth Tourism Task Force on Aug. 12.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggot said on Wednesday that the administration has continued to revoke visas under the initiative and President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown.
“When that task force was announced, the Secretary noted that we had revoked over 600 visas,” Piggot told Newsmax. “I can now say that we are at nearly 900 visas being revoked just since this task force was launched. And that’s on top of the actions we have taken since the beginning of this administration to shut down birth tourism networks worldwide.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the task force was created to review visa holders, dismantle birth-tourism networks, and revoke visas where appropriate.
Birth tourism, the practice of traveling to the United States primarily so a child can be born in the country and potentially obtain citizenship by birth, has become a pressing issue, according to the administration.
Piggot said foreigners over the years have taken advantage of the practice and have gone too far in securing a visa at the expense of Americans.
“It really is an insidious practice,” Piggot said. “We are seeing this as a global phenomenon and we are seeing these networks that are profiting, trying to essentially sell U.S. citizenship. This includes by advertising a world they say is without borders or automatic citizenship, disguising themselves as health care services when in reality it is this insidious practice with birth tourism. And then on top of defrauding consular officers to get that visa, they then coach these people to defraud the American people when they’re here and leave taxpayers footing the bill for their medical expenses. So this is a really pressing issue.”
Immigrant advocates have argued that birthright citizenship is a constitutional right outlined under the 14th Amendment. Legal experts have long interpreted the provision to mean that children born in the United States are citizens regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Separately, the State Department says the Trump administration has revoked more than 175,000 visas since returning to office, for a variety of reasons including criminal activity, immigration violations, fraud, and national-security concerns.
“Citizenship is not a commodity to be acquired through calculated exploitation and evasion of the immigration laws. Foreign nationals who abuse the visa system, and those who help them do so, may lose their visa, their access, and their future in the United States,” according to the State Department.