U.S. To Begin Denying Entry To Pregnant Women With New Visa Rules To Fight ‘Birth Tourism’

The Trump administration is planning on implementing new rules that would make it more difficult for pregnant women to visit the United States, as reported by PBS. The restrictions are aimed to hit back at “birth tourism,” a form of immigration in which foreign women give birth in the United States so that their children receive birthright citizenship.

Birth tourism is a lucrative business that is growing at an exponential pace. Though there is no official recorded number of so-called “anchor babies,” the Center for Immigration Studies estimates that the total is around 36,000 births per year, per The New York Times.

“The fact that we have no idea of the scale of birth tourism is a problem in and of itself,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the center.

According to two officials with insider knowledge, the State Department will announce the new rules on Thursday. The new requirements will demand that pregnant women have a legitimate reason to come to the United States that has been approved by a consular officer.

“Any B nonimmigrant visa applicant who you have reason to believe will give birth during her stay in the United States is presumed to be traveling for the primary purpose of obtaining US citizenship for the child,” the guidance reads, as reported by Buzzfeed News.

“The applicant can overcome this presumption if you find that the primary purpose of travel is not obtaining US citizenship for a child,” it continued.

That said, officials have claimed that the new rules are more “symbolic” than realistic, as consular officers will not ask if applicants are pregnant or intend to become pregnant. In addition, officers will not require applicants to prove that they are not pregnant.

“It is largely symbolic,” said Sarah Pierce, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute.

“It’s not going to have a huge effect on the issue. This is mostly symbolic and another way to say the US is closed.”

Though the United States had begun a policy of cracking down on birth tourism since before Trump’s election, the president has been open about his desire to cut back on immigration. The former businessman has even floated the idea of ending the practice of birthright citizenship, but constitutional scholars have claimed that it would be difficult to institutionalize.

However, Trump has enacted new policies that have restricted immigration in other ways. For example, a recent executive order allows states to deny entry to refugees under an old federal program. As was previously reported by The Inquisitr, Governor Greg Abbott was the first official to take advantage of the new regulations by closing his state’s borders earlier this month.