Justice Department to Intensify Birth Tourism Investigations Post-Supreme Court Decision

The U.S. Justice Department has instructed federal prosecutors to prioritize investigations into birth tourism schemes following a Supreme Court ruling that invalidated former President Donald Trump's executive order attempting to end automatic citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants in the United States. Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald issued a memo on June 30 directing all U.S. attorneys and the Criminal Division to collaborate with the Department of Homeland Security to identify, investigate, and prosecute individuals involved in such schemes.

McDonald emphasized that foreign nationals are exploiting America's immigration system by traveling to the country under false pretenses specifically to give birth and secure citizenship for their children. The memo highlights several cases where individuals have been charged with visa fraud and other criminal activities related to facilitating birth tourism. For instance, Wei Yueh Liu and Jing Dong were sentenced to 41 months in prison for operating "USA Happy Baby Inc." and helping Chinese nationals obtain fraudulent visas to enter the U.S., among other services.

In another notable case, Chao "Edwin" Chen ran a large-scale operation that allegedly helped hundreds of foreign nationals give birth on American soil. The Supreme Court's decision on June 30 struck down Trump’s executive order, which had aimed to restrict automatic citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants. Chief Justice John Roberts affirmed in the majority opinion that the Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born within U.S. territory, regardless of their parents' legal status.

Following this ruling, President Trump called on Congress to introduce legislation restricting birthright citizenship through official channels, underscoring his administration’s ongoing efforts to address what it views as an abuse of immigration laws.