Wanting to stop 'birth tourism,' Trump administration will restrict visas for pregnant women

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published 24 January 2020

Under a new rule going into effect Friday, the State Department will have the ability to deny a visitor visa to any pregnant woman suspected of traveling to the United States in order to give birth and secure American citizenship for her child.

The Trump administration on Thursday said it is cracking down on "birth tourism" because it "poses risk to national security." Having a baby is "not a legitimate activity for pleasure or of a recreational nature," the State Department said, and the ability to deny visas closes an "immigration loophole," White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham announced. "It will also defend American taxpayers from having their hard-earned dollars siphoned away to finance the direct and downstream costs associated with birth tourism."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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