U.S President, Donald Trump and his team have unveiled a new rule Thursday intended to curtail what the administration calls “birth tourism.”
It would give the government more power to deny certain visas to women if officials have “reason to believe” they intend to travel to the U.S. for the primary purpose of giving birth to a child in the U.S., thereby obtaining U.S. citizenship for the child.
The State Department “does not believe that visiting the United States for the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child, by giving birth in the United States — an activity commonly referred to as ‘birth tourism’ — is a legitimate activity for pleasure or of a recreational nature,” according to the new rule, which goes into effect Friday.
The visas covered by the new rule are issued to those seeking to visit for pleasure, medical treatment or to see friends and family.
The White House announced Thursday that the State Department “will no longer issue temporary visitor (B-1/B-2) visas to aliens seeking to enter the United States for ‘birth tourism.'”
