The US State Department tightens immigration regulations with pregnant women to prevent childbirth in the United States for citizenship.

The White House said yesterday that B-1 visas (for business travelers) and B-2 (for travelers, family visits, medical treatment) will no longer be issued to "seeking foreigners." how to enter the United States for birth tourism, "in order to obtain American citizenship for their children. Regulations effective from today.

According to the White House notice, childbirth tourism is a "clear migration gap" and the blocking of this activity is aimed at ensuring public safety, national security, as well as maintaining "system integrity". immigration system ".

"The birth tourism industry is at risk of overloading hospital resources and full of criminal activity, as evidenced in federal prosecution cases. The closure of this immigrant hole also helps protect American tax guarantees do not become a source of funding for childbirth tourism, "the White House added.

The US Constitution allows the granting of citizenship to anyone born in the country. However, US President Donald Trump has criticized the rule and restricting immigration is also a focus of his re-election campaign this year.

Under the new rules, US consular employees have the right to refuse to issue Class B visas to foreigners who believe they plan to come to the US to have children. However, how to implement it is still unclear. Women who apply for a visa may be required to prove that they are coming to the US not for childbirth and for other reasons such as medical treatment.

An American official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said thousands of children born in the United States every year are the offspring of women who travel to the country on type B visas. The number is also rising.

According to the Center for Immigration Research, between mid-2016 and mid-2017, 33,000 children were born through childbirth travel services. The total number of births every year in the US is about 3.8 million. The State Department said women who want to give birth in the country may have to pay up to $ 100,000 to the broker.