{"id":4828,"date":"2026-04-12T07:41:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T07:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=4828"},"modified":"2026-04-12T07:41:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T07:41:58","slug":"ice-launches-new-effort-to-crack-down-on-us-birth-tourism-schemes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=4828","title":{"rendered":"ICE launches new effort to crack down on US \u2018birth tourism schemes\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>President Trump\u2019s administration plans to \u200bcrack down on networks it says help pregnant women lie on visa applications in order to secure US citizenship for their US-born babies, an issue that \u200cTrump has highlighted to justify his attempts to restrict birthright citizenship.<\/p>\n<p>In an internal email sent Thursday and reviewed by Reuters, Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered investigative agents around the country to focus on a new \u201cBirth Tourism Initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The operation will seek to root out networks that help pregnant foreign nationals come to the US to give birth so their children can receive citizenship, it said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>ICE is going after networks that help pregnant women lie on visa applications so their babies can secure US citizenship. <span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Trump has kicked off an aggressive push \u200bto reduce both legal and illegal immigration after taking office in January 2025. His administration has used the threat of birth tourism as a rationale for attempting to restrict \u200bthe practice of granting\u00a0automatic citizenship\u00a0to children born on US soil.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUninhibited birth tourism poses a tremendous cost to taxpayers and threatens our national security,\u201d \u2060White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement, adding that most nations do not provide automatic citizenship at birth.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on any ongoing \u200binvestigations, but said it was aware that some networks facilitate travel to the US for birth tourism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the act of giving birth in the United States is not unlawful, DHS remains focused \u200bon identifying and addressing potential violations of federal law associated with these activities,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p>No US law outright bars birth tourism, but a federal regulation\u00a0implemented\u00a0in 2020 during Trump\u2019s first term prohibits using temporary tourist and business visas for the primary purpose of obtaining US citizenship for a newborn. People who engage in birth tourism schemes could be prosecuted for fraud or other related crimes.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>President Trump has highlighted the issue as he attempts to restrict birthright citizenship. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>In\u00a02019, more than a dozen people were charged in a scheme to operate \u201cbirth houses\u201d in \u2060California that \u200bcatered to wealthy Chinese women. <span class=\"credit\">ICE.gov<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There are no \u200bofficial figures tallying the number of foreigners who come to the US for the explicit purpose of giving birth and obtaining citizenship for their children, or the cost to taxpayers.<\/p>\n<p>The Center for \u200bImmigration Studies, which supports lower levels of immigration, estimated in an analysis in 2020 that between 20,000-25,000 mothers came to the US for birth tourism in a year-long period between 2016-2017.<\/p>\n<p>There were\u00a03.6 million births in \u200cthe US \u2060in 2025\u00a0and birth tourism likely represents a fraction of total births.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans have highlighted allegations of birth tourism as a reason to limit access to US citizenship, which has long been conferred at birth under an amendment to the Constitution.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Chinese national Dongyuan Li pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with the scheme. <span class=\"credit\">ICE.gov<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office that instructed US agencies not to recognize the citizenship of children born in the US if neither parent is an American citizen or legal permanent resident, a sharp break from legal precedent spanning more than a century.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple federal judges blocked the order, sending the case\u00a0to the Supreme Court \u200bfor oral arguments\u00a0last week. Solicitor \u200bGeneral D. John Sauer, representing the Trump \u2060administration, said automatic citizenship had encouraged \u201ca sprawling industry of birth tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sauer said the promise of citizenship for those born in the US had encouraged thousands of people from \u201cpotentially hostile nations\u201d to come to give birth, \u201ccreating a whole generation of American citizens abroad with no meaningful ties to the \u200bUnited States.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons testifies before a House Homeland Security Committee, February 10, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>ICE\u2019s new birth tourism effort \u2014 spearheaded by its Homeland Security Investigations arm \u2014 aims to surface cases of fraud, \u200bbut it is unclear how \u2060many cases they might find.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHSI is advancing efforts to protect the integrity of US immigration and identification systems, specifically targeting fraudulent activities associated with birth tourism schemes,\u201d the email said.<\/p>\n<p>The agency said it would seek to disrupt \u201cfraud, financial crimes, and organized facilitation networks that exploit lawful immigration processes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In\u00a0one federal case in 2019, more than a dozen people were charged in a scheme to operate \u201cbirth houses\u201d in Southern \u2060California that \u200bcatered to wealthy women from China.<\/p>\n<p>In the case \u2014 billed by ICE at the time as the first US prosecution \u200bagainst birth tourism \u2014 Chinese national Dongyuan Li pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with the scheme. She was sentenced to 10 months in prison and released in December 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Another Chinese national, Chao \u201cEdwin\u201d Chen, was sentenced to three years \u200bin prison in 2020 but had already fled the US for China, according to ICE.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:258px; background:#ff6b6b; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114307\" data-width=\"908\" data-height=\"258\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114307});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u7b2c\u4e8c\u901a\u680f\uff1a728\u00d790 \u901a\u680f -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; 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