An attorney representing the Trump administration during discussions at the Supreme Court on Wednesday strongly emphasized his assertion that the alleged birth tourism phenomenon serves as compelling proof that the U.S. policy of automatically granting citizenship to infants born within the nation should be abolished.
The attorney, Solicitor General D. John Sauer, stated that numerous companies, particularly those serving Chinese and Russian elites, exist to assist individuals in coming to the U.S. to ensure their children are born there and receive citizenship.
“The congressional report mentioned in our submission highlights specific hotspots, such as Russian elites traveling to Miami via these birth tourism firms,” Sauer asserted before the justices of the high court as President Donald Trump observed from the gallery.
In January 2025, Trump enacted an executive order aimed at effectively terminating birthright citizenship, a principle regarded as law for over 150 years due to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
“As early as 2015, media reports suggested that, according to Chinese outlets, there are 500 — 500 — birth tourism companies operating in the People’s Republic of China, whose intent is to facilitate childbirth in the U.S. and then return to their home country,” Sauer remarked, describing this figure as “striking” while refraining from identifying the media sources he referenced.
The solicitor general referenced a letter dated March 9 from congressional members addressed to the Department of Homeland Security, indicating that media reports suggest up to 1.5 million Chinese nationals may have attained U.S. citizenship through the “birth tourism” sector.
The U.S. government does not officially track how many children are born to individuals on visitor visas.
The latest estimates from the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for reducing immigration, indicated in 2020 that the number of “birth tourists” could be around 20,000 to 26,000 infants per year.
The letter mentions the conservative media organization, Breitbart News Network, which attributes the 1.5 million estimate to author Peter Schweizer, who stated that these American citizens will grow up in China only to return to the U.S. to legally vote once they reach 18. Schweizer contends that when these individuals turn 21, they will seek U.S. residency for their parents.
A woman and her spouse were convicted in 2025 on charges of conspiracy and money laundering related to her birth tourism business, USA Happy Baby.
Additionally, in 2015, federal authorities indicted 19 individuals connected to three “birth tourism” enterprises in Southern California. Federal officials detained three of those defendants in 2019.
