US rules may restrict visas for pregnant foreigners

In a move to curb “birth tourism,” the Trump administration issued visa guidelines Thursday that could make it more difficult for some pregnant women to get visas to visit the USA.

The new rules apply to applicants for a visa for business, pleasure, tourism and medical visits.

Under the guidelines, which take effect Friday, applicants deemed by consular officers to be coming to the USA primarily to give birth will be treated like foreigners coming for medical treatment – they must prove they have the money to pay for it, including transportation and living expenses.

Under the Constitution, anyone born in the USA is considered a citizen. Though traveling to the USA to give birth is not illegal, authorities have arrested operators of birth tourism agencies for visa fraud or tax evasion.

The State Department noted that investigations of birth tourism found that operators often fabricated financial documents, used false information to lease apartments and charged as much as $100,000 for the service.

“This rule will help prevent operators in the birth tourism industry from profiting off treating U.S. citizenship as a commodity, sometimes through potentially criminal acts,” the State Department said. The department warned that birth tourism poses risks to national security and is “rife with criminal activity, including international criminal schemes.”

The Center for Immigration Studies, which favors stricter immigration laws, estimates that in 2012, about 36,000 foreign-born women gave birth in the U.S., then left the country.