Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced legislation that would prevent certain migrants from entering the United States in a bid to crack down on what she calls a “multi-million dollar industry” built on birth tourism.
Blackburn’s bill, called “the Ban Birth Tourism” act, would modify existing immigration law to make those intending to come to the United States for the purpose of having a child in America ineligible for entry.
Blackburn asserted in a recent interview that foreign networks, including those operating in China and Russia, have built a multi-million dollar industry by taking advantage of America’s birthright citizenship policy.
“You have brokers who are advertising and pushing for people in countries like Russia and China, and women, when they are pregnant, they can pay a fee to the broker, come into the U.S., live in housing that is provided for them, have the baby, get the birth certificate,” she said, adding that the scheme allows the foreign nationals to start the chain migration process once the child turns 21 years old.
Blackburn’s legislation aims to prevent those foreigners from entering the United States.
“Foreign nationals have been exploiting our nation’s immigration laws for far too long, taking advantage of the system to come to the United States for the sole purpose of giving birth to obtain U.S. citizenship for their children,” the senator from Tennessee charged. “The Ban Birth Tourism Act would prevent foreign nationals, including those from adversaries like Communist China and Russia, from buying American citizenship for their children.”
Blackburn’s bill comes just after the Supreme Court began hearing arguments addressing President Donald Trump’s day one executive order ending birthright citizenship for children born in the United States without at least one parent who is a citizen or legal permanent resident.
Trump railed against birthright citizenship in a post on Truth Social ahead of the arguments before the Supreme Court.
“The United States of America is the only Country in the World that does this, for what reason, nobody knows — But the drug cartels love it!” Trump said. “Birthright Citizenship was not meant for people taking vacations to become permanent Citizens of the United States of America, and bringing their families with them, all the time laughing at the ‘SUCKERS’ that we are!”
Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) introduced his own legislation in the House ending birthright citizenship shortly after Trump’s executive order. Babin’s bill, like Blackburn’s, takes aim at birth tourism and aims to “close loopholes that exploit birthright citizenship and discourage illegal immigration.”
