Recently, the Supreme Court upheld the US Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment that offers birthright citizenship to kids born to US visa and Green Card holders. It overthrew the Trump administration’s attempts to scrap birthright citizenship for US-born kids of immigrants and non-immigrants. President Trump’s 2025 executive order was annulled as an unjust act of violating the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.
The failure to counter the 30 June Supreme Court ruling is pushing the White House officials to curb birth tourism, according to several reports. They are considering entry or travel ban for pregnant travelers from foreign countries. They are also mulling over plans to identify and book individuals or groups selling birth tourism schemes/packages to expecting women travelers, other than introducing travel ban for them.
What is birth tourism in USA?
Birth tourism is an unlawful practice that some foreigners enter the US on temporary visas with the only intent to give birth there and secure the coveted US citizenship for their newborn. Since his first term as President, Trump has been critical of birth tourism in America. He abhors it as a glaring loophole in the US immigration system and considers it as part of illegal immigration.
“Birth tourism is thriving as a criminal activity, which threatens to overburden medical resources for US taxpayers,” said Stephanie Grisham, President Trump’s press secretary in the first term. In his first presidential regime, Trump restricted visa issuance to pregnant foreign women who would otherwise travel to USA with the intent of giving birth there. The US consular officers exercised discretionary power to scrutinize pregnant women’s visa applications in those days.
Plans to curb birth tourism may impact airline policy
President Trump dismissed the 30 June Supreme Court ruling as the miscarriage of justice in one of his social media posts on Truth Social. He plans a rehearing by the US Supreme Court and a crackdown on birth tourism networks in and outside America. The biggest pushback against the alleged birth tourism in the US, which the Trump administration is eyeing on, is travel or entry ban for pregnant foreign nationals.
Reportedly, the White House aides and allies are considering tighter entry restrictions for pregnant women who are neither US citizens nor permanent US residents. Among them is Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee, who announced a bill, “Anchors Away Act”. The proposed legislation, Anchors Away, seeks to prevent the US entry of pregnant foreign women by tightening travel rules for them.
Speculations are rife that the US government may revise the airlines’ policy for pregnant women’s inbound travel. Major airlines’ no-flying policy for pregnant passengers, ranges from the 32nd week to the 36th week of pregnancy. It is possible for the US government to change airline policies, since the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulate commercial aviation.
American Airlines does not fly passengers if they are beyond 36 weeks of pregnancy. United Airlines allows women passengers to fly even after 36 weeks of pregnancy with a medical certificate issued within 72 hours of scheduled departure. Unlike American carriers, the Middle East airlines have a rigid policy for pregnant passengers’ international travel after 29th week of pregnancy. Air India flights fly US-bound passengers up to the 35th week of pregnancy only if the airline’s chief medical officer finds their ‘fit-to-travel’ (medical) certificate satisfactory.
