US authorities will not allow foreign women who want to give birth there into the country
As BBC notes, the Trump administration's decision means that pregnant women who travel to the US specifically to give birth there will be denied tourist visas and entry into the country. In theory, the ban does not apply to pregnant women if they are going to the US for another purpose – for example, to visit sick relatives or for business meetings (such examples were cited by State Department officials themselves).
Consular officers will now be able to ask women about pregnancy and plans to give birth during visa interviews. The State Department has already instructed its employees that this question should under no circumstances be addressed to all women. Also, neither at the interview nor at the border will anyone be able to require a woman to take a pregnancy test.
Most often, the question will arise from selecting medical treatment or care as the purpose of the trip in the visa application. In this case, visa applicants will be required to provide proof that they can fully pay for medical services. The State Department does not directly answer whether consular officers will ask this question based on a woman's appearance.
Border patrol officers have the right to deny entry to the US even to people who have received a visa. Tourists or foreign students arriving in the US are often stopped at the airport and sent back on the next flight.
Lawyer Anna Brown, in an interview with the BBC, recalled cases of denial of entry due to unpaid bills, violations of student visa rules, and even a conflict with a passport control officer. "But I have not heard of a single case where a woman was denied entry to the US solely because of pregnancy," says Brown. She is confident that the new rules will trigger a wave of lawsuits: "Such a decision could be seen as discrimination against women, since no law prohibits giving birth on US territory."
The implementation of this ban is also complicated by the fact that US tourist visas are issued for long periods: for Russians – up to three years, and for citizens of Ukraine and a number of other post-Soviet countries – up to 10 years. According to the lawyer, birth tourism can be truly curbed by imposing restrictions on companies providing such services.
In 2018, 3,791,712 children were born in America (this figure includes cases of two or more twins), according to the US National Center for Health Statistics. There are no statistics on children born to mothers with tourist visas, but the State Department speaks of thousands of cases without specifying the number.
Childbirth in the US is popular among wealthy Russians: some want their children to become US citizens, while others trust American medicine more. Among celebrities who have given birth in the US are singers Kristina Orbakaite, Anna Sedokova, and Glukoza, TV presenters Laysan Utyasheva and Olga Shelest, and many others.
However, lawyer Anna Brown is confident that Russia and the former USSR countries are not the main sources of birth tourism to the US. She notes that most foreign students come from China and other Asian countries. "The story with birth tourism is roughly the same: most clients of such businesses are citizens of China and Asian countries," says Brown.
The State Department explains the new rules by national security considerations. Allegedly, this loophole – the ability to enter America and give birth to a child who becomes a US citizen – is used by foreigners and organizations that may be undesirable and dangerous for the country. However, at a briefing with journalists, State Department representatives could not name a single case where individual terrorists or groups organized childbirth in the US.
The decision may be driven by political considerations, Karnig Dukmajian, a senior lawyer at Laura Devine Immigration in London, told the BBC. The tightening of the visa regime may be due to the Trump administration's desire to mobilize the president's core electorate ahead of the presidential elections.
"Birth tourism has become a political issue dividing Americans in recent years," the lawyer says. Among opponents of immigration in American society, there is a widespread belief that by giving birth to children in the US, foreigners will be able to move to the States themselves. Such children are called anchor babies in this environment.
However, Dukmajian explains that it is extremely difficult for tourists who give birth in America to actually move to the US: they must wait for the child to reach adulthood, apply for a green card, and go through all stages of the immigration system.
Fraud is indeed widespread in the "birth tourism" industry, lawyer Anna Brown believes. She recalled that last year a group of people from the former USSR was arrested in Miami. They are accused of taking money from their clients but presenting them as indigent in hospital bills and using medical insurance at the expense of the state of Florida and the federal government. The bills were ultimately paid by American taxpayers.