US President Donald Trump has ordered a fresh crackdown on so-called birth tourism, directing federal agencies to prevent foreign nationals from entering the country for the purpose of giving birth and to take enforcement action against those facilitating the practice.
The executive order, signed on 6 August 2026, described US citizenship as “among the greatest inheritances the nation can bestow” and accused birth tourism operators of exploiting the immigration system to obtain citizenship for children born in the United States.
Under the directive, the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security are required to take steps to prevent foreign nationals from entering the US for birth tourism and to revoke visas and travel authorisations where the practice is identified.
The agencies have also been directed to deny entry to, or remove, foreign nationals who have previously engaged in birth tourism or are believed to be planning to do so.
The order further targets individuals and organisations in the US and abroad accused of facilitating the practice, including operators and intermediaries alleged to coach clients on how to misrepresent the purpose of their travel to consular officials and border authorities.
The Secretaries of State and Homeland Security were instructed to update relevant regulations, policies and operational guidance to implement the new measures, while other federal agencies were directed to provide information and records needed to enforce the policy.
The White House said the move was intended to protect the integrity of the US immigration system and prevent non-immigrant visa categories from being used to obtain immigration benefits for which they were not designed.
“The United States has a compelling interest in ensuring that each visa category is used only for the purpose for which it was established,” the order stated.
The administration accused birth tourism businesses of using misleading advertisements and financial inducements to attract clients, while coaching them to provide false or misleading information to immigration officials.
According to the White House, the practice diverts consular resources from legitimate visa applicants, undermines confidence in the immigration system and raises national security concerns.
The order nevertheless allows the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to grant exemptions on humanitarian grounds or where they determine that an individual’s entry would be in the national interest.
Latest move on birthright citizenship
The new measures represent the latest immigration initiative by the Trump administration following its broader effort to restrict birthright citizenship.
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has made immigration enforcement a central priority of his administration, including efforts to alter the rules governing citizenship for children born in the United States to foreign parents.
The Supreme Court, however, ruled in June 2026 that children born in the US to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. In Trump v Barbara, the court held that Trump’s earlier executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship violated the Constitution.
The latest executive order takes a different approach by focusing on the circumstances under which foreign nationals enter the US rather than directly seeking to redefine who qualifies for citizenship at birth.
The administration has also moved to make birth tourism a specific ground for visa refusal and has directed immigration authorities to scrutinise travellers suspected of entering the country for the purpose of giving birth.
The latest directive instructs federal agencies to intensify enforcement against both individuals seeking to engage in birth tourism and the networks that facilitate it.
The administration’s position is that foreign nationals who obtain visas for purposes inconsistent with the conditions of those visas should not be permitted to use the immigration system to gain benefits through birth tourism.
The policy is likely to keep immigration and citizenship at the centre of the US political and legal debate, particularly following the Supreme Court’s recent ruling affirming birthright citizenship for children born to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present in the country.
