The US State Department has set up a new Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force to identify and act against foreign nationals suspected of travelling to the US primarily to give birth, saying it has already revoked more than 600 visas as part of the crackdown.Announcing the task force on Aug 12, the State Department said it would review the activities of visa holders worldwide, connect information held across federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), examine travel histories and take action against those involved in birth tourism or the networks facilitating it.The move comes amid a wider Trump administration push to prevent what it describes as the exploitation of US immigration laws through birth tourism. A few days ago on Aug 6, President Donald Trump issued two Executive Orders seeking to restrict birthright citizenship and prevent what the administration calls ‘birth tourism’. Subsequently, a coalition of civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit contending that an earlier Supreme Court ruling protecting birthright citizenship nullifies these two executive orders.The June 30 decision in the case of Trump v/s Barbara affirmed that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the country except for the children of diplomats or enemy forces in the US.In its statement the State Department said facilitators have turned the practice of birth tourism into a for-profit industry, advertising services such as ‘birth in the US’, which includes offering an array of services such as visa coaching to conceal the purpose of travel and hospital arrangements. It also alleged that some facilitators forge medical documents or coach clients to conceal the purpose of their travel.The crackdown is, however, creating anxiety beyond those suspected of deliberately travelling to the US for childbirth. Social media groups of the Indian diaspora are filed with anxious messages.Immigrant professionals such as those on H-1B visas, spouses who hold the H-4 (dependent) visa, as well as international students who become pregnant while legally living in the US, are increasingly concerned about travelling outside the country and returning while pregnant. The concern is not that pregnancy itself violates their status, but that heightened scrutiny around birth tourism could lead to questions about their purpose of travel and ability to re-enter the US.A H-4 visa holder told TOI that she wanted to meet her parents in India, during the early stages of her pregnancy, but was worried about being questioned at the US airport on her return, and being denied re-entry in the US. Immigration attorneys view that pregnancy by itself should not result in an entry ban for such visa holders, but do not rule out additional questioning. They state that the primary focus of the crackdown will be on B visa holders, such as tourists.The State Department said the task force has uncovered cases in which travellers allegedly concealed their true purpose. In one case, a couple on two separate occasions used a conference and vacation as cover to give birth to children in the US , while in another, a foreign government official travelled ostensibly on official business but stayed three months and gave birth. Visas in both cases were revoked.The department warned that foreigners who deliberately misrepresent the purpose of their travel may become permanently ineligible for a US visa or admission.
