US revokes 150 visas to prevent 'birth tourism'

The United States has revoked 150 visas in recent days to prevent foreign nationals from travelling to the US with the aim of giving birth in the country and obtaining US citizenship for their child, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said on Saturday.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department had established a task force to prevent the practice of ‘birth tourism’ and had revoked 600 visas.

“In just a few days, since we announced this task force, the number has actually reached more than 750 visas revoked. An additional 150 visas have been revoked in just the last few days,” Pigott said in an interview with Fox News.

He said the measure targets members of ‘birth tourism’ networks, as well as people who enter the US on visas for purposes other than those they declared, then give birth to a child to obtain US citizenship.

“We have examples of people who came to the United States claiming they would be on holiday for a week, but stayed for up to five months and received guidance on how to deceive the American people and not pay their medical bills,” Pigott added.

In early August, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning the practice of ‘birth tourism’ to the country.

The enforcement measures set out in the policy include denial of entry, visa revocation, deportation, and permanent travel bans to the US for foreign nationals involved in the practice.

Chris Ingram, principal and managing attorney at a California-based firm, told RIA Novosti that US authorities could deport pregnant foreign women as part of the crackdown on the practice.