The Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday a new visa restriction policy aimed at those who participate in or profit from the so-called birth tourism, the practice whereby foreign citizens travel to the United States to give birth and thereby obtain citizenship for their children.
According to the official statement from the Department of State, the measure is based on Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and targets four categories of individuals: owners, operators, and managers of birth tourism business networks; so-called "visa fixers" who advise applicants to lie in their applications; foreign medical providers who facilitate these trips and the fraudulent use of the Medicaid system; and any other individual who supports or enables this practice.
Certain family members of those affected could also be subject to the restrictions.
Rubio described the operation of these networks harshly: “Foreign commercial networks specializing in birth tourism have exploited the U.S. immigration system to sell U.S. citizenship for profit. These networks advertise and advise foreign citizens to lie on their visa applications and charge tens of thousands of dollars to arrange births on American soil solely for the purpose of obtaining citizenship.”
The Secretary of State emphasized that the Trump administration "is using all available tools to defend the integrity of American citizenship, protect public benefits and taxpayers from exploitation, and safeguard national security."
This new policy comes weeks after a federal court blocked the previous pathway. On August 6, Trump signed Executive Order 14419, known as "Ending Birth Tourism," which instructed the Departments of State and Homeland Security to deny visas, revoke travel authorizations, and expel those in the country for that purpose.
However, on September 3, Federal Judge Deborah Boardman blocked the enforcement of that order from the District of Maryland, declaring it "almost certainly unconstitutional," arguing that the Supreme Court had already established that the children covered by the class action lawsuit are citizens at birth.
The new restriction announced by Rubio operates through a different legal avenue: instead of questioning birthright citizenship—protected by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution—it directly targets the commercial networks profiting from the system, allowing it to bypass the constitutional obstacles that overturned the previous executive order.
The State Department had also created, in August, a Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force to identify visa holders involved in this practice and revoke them when appropriate.
The documented networks mainly operate with clientele from China, Russia, Nigeria, and Latin American countries. Federal prosecutors had previously charged 19 individuals connected to Chinese networks for falsehoods in their visa applications.
For Cubans, the immediate impact of this measure is limited: B-1/B-2 tourist visas for Cuban citizens have been suspended since June 9, 2025 under a current presidential proclamation, and Cuba does not participate in the Visa Waiver Program.
However, the policy does affect Cubans who hold passports or residency in third countries from which they can apply for U.S. visas.
The Trump administration has been escalating restrictions in this area for over a year, and Rubio's new policy represents the latest— and legally strongest—attempt to close a practice that, according to Washington, turns American citizenship into a commodity.
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