Todd Blanche Orders DOJ Crackdown on Birth Tourism After Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship in the case Trump v. Barbara, ruling 6-3 that children born in the United States are “citizens at birth” under the 14th amendment.

“Donald Trump opened on Thursday a new front in his battle over immigration by targeting birth tourism, i”

Africanews

In response to the ruling, the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, said federal prosecutors and law enforcement officers will focus on combating “birth tourism,” telling reporters, “What we have to do as Department of Justice is make sure our agents, our [Homeland Security Investigations] agents that we work with, and the FBI are focused on stopping that.”

Africanews

Blanche’s comments came as the Department of Justice directed staff to bring fraud charges, with Colin McDonald writing, “The Department of Justice will zealously protect the sanctity of United States citizenship by investigating and prosecuting those who fraudulently exploit our immigration system.”

The Supreme Court’s decision rejected Trump’s argument that children of parents “unlawfully or temporarily present” are not “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” and the BBC reported the ruling was a “blow to Trump.”

Alongside the post-ruling enforcement push, the U.S. State Department began revoking visas for people who entered on tourist visas and came to the United States to give birth, with Telemundo Houston reporting that the Department of State started an “ofensiva” against “turismo de parto.”

Telemundo Houston said an embassy in Africa detected “una red sofisticada de más de 100 extranjeros” using fraudulent documents and “gestores” of visas, and the agency said visas were revoked while authorities worked to identify similar operations.

BBC

La Prensa reported that the State Department confirmed three diplomatic missions revoked more than 600 visas to parents “turistas de nacimiento,” and it quoted the agency’s X post: “No foreigner is permitted to obtain a visitor visa for the primary purpose of acquiring U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the U.S.”

The State Department also warned, “Una visa estadounidense es un privilegio, no un derecho,” as Telemundo Houston described, while La Prensa said the agency was coordinating with local authorities to identify and cut similar operations.

Even with birthright citizenship upheld, Trump administration figures and allies discussed further limits, and The 19th reported that Markwayne Mullin said, “There are tourist visas that they get to come into the United States or into our territories just simply to give birth.”

“US Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship in blow to Trump The Supreme Court has ruled that babies born in the US have a constitutional right to citizenship, rejecting Donald Trump's bid to end the 150-year-old policy”

BBC

The 19th said Mullin described a “long conversation at the White House” on Tuesday after the Supreme Court ruled, and it reported that he met with Trump, Stephen Miller, and Tom Homan.

In parallel, Fox News reported that Rep. Andy Ogles introduced the “Anchors Away Act,” asserting in a statement that the Supreme Court “cheapened the most valuable thing on planet Earth: U.S. citizenship,” and it said the proposal would amend U.S. law to make a pregnant nonimmigrant “inadmissible” if not married to a U.S. citizen.

Truthout reported that Stephen Miller suggested the administration may consider barring pregnant tourists or immigrants from entering the U.S., quoting him on Fox News’s Jesse Watters: “You have to now think very carefully about who you let into your country, even on a temporary basis,” as the DOJ memo had already directed prosecutors to prioritize birth tourism fraud cases.