Now Reading: US cancels 600 visas for birth tourism; Rubio: citizenship not for sale
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US cancels 600 visas for birth tourism; Rubio: citizenship not for sale
US cancels 600 visas for birth tourism; Rubio: citizenship not for sale
The US State Department has revoked more than 600 visas in a month as part of a new crackdown on birth tourism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a Birth Tourism Prevention…
The Story in Brief
The US State Department has revoked more than 600 visas in a month as part of a new crackdown on birth tourism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force to investigate networks that coach foreign nationals to travel to the US specifically to give birth. Rubio wrote that American citizenship is not for sale, drawing a community note on X that pointed to the Trump administration's Gold Card programme, which offers a pathway to residency and citizenship for a contribution of $1-2 million.
The State Department said it will review visa-holder activity and coordinate with Homeland Security and other agencies. The task force cited cases where travellers concealed the purpose of travel or used forged documents. The effort is part of broader immigration enforcement, but legal challenges continue over Trump's executive order restricting birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
The Indian Opinion
Rubio says American citizenship is not for sale, then the Gold Card pathway offers residency for a million-dollar contribution. That contradiction invites cynicism. But birth tourism operators do coach visitors to lie on visa forms, which is fraud. Both sides exaggerate: one calls it a cash-for-passport scheme, the other ignores the exploitation. Watch how the courts square the Gold Card programme with the 14th Amendment, or whether the task force targets genuine tourists too.
Sources (2): indiatoday.in, timesnownews.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
