Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading an aggressive effort by the Trump administration to dismantle international “birth tourism” operations, targeting networks accused of helping pregnant foreign nationals travel to the United States using fraudulent paperwork so their children can automatically obtain American citizenship.

The crackdown gained attention Saturday after Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany highlighted the administration’s recent actions during a report on America. According to McEnany, hundreds of visas were revoked in recent days as part of the initiative.

“The State Department [is] shutting down a sophisticated tourism network after the U.S. Embassy in West Africa revealed more than 100 foreign nationals were using fraudulent documents and visa fixers to illegally obtain American citizenship,” McEnany explained.

She said investigators uncovered similar activity elsewhere on the continent. “It was a similar story in North Africa. Over 100 Visas were just revoked as embassy there said expecting mothers were coming to America to give birth for the sole purpose of giving their child American citizenship,” she continued. “Meanwhile in Europe, we now know that there was over 400 suspected birth tourism cases since 2024.”

McEnany later interviewed State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott, who described the alleged operations as organized schemes designed to exploit U.S. immigration laws.

“These are networks that are essentially trying to sell citizenship to the United States as if it was a commodity,” Pigott said. “That includes coaching people on how to defraud U.S. Consular Officers to try to obtain a visa through fraud.”

Pigott argued that the issue extends beyond immigration concerns and places financial burdens on American taxpayers.

He continued, “That also includes the logistics you laid out in the United States that leave the American taxpayer footing the bill — often time in these cases, birth tourists pay the absolute minimum when it comes to their medical expenses, and then U.S. taxpayers foot the bill. That is outrageous, that is unacceptable, we are putting a stop to it.”

The report follows a recent announcement by the State Department declaring that it is “defending the integrity of U.S. citizenship by ending illegal birth tourism schemes.”

The administration’s intensified focus on the issue comes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers questions surrounding birthright citizenship. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the practice, calling it a “great scam” that wealthy foreign nationals have exploited for years.

The high court is expected to issue its ruling later this summer, a decision that could have significant implications for future immigration and citizenship policy in the United States.

{Matzav.com}