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The United States is imposing new restrictions citing security concerns over “birth tourism”, on the granting of tourist visas to pregnant foreign women travelling to the United States. The U.S State Department announced the new law on Thursday, to end the practice of giving birth in the U.S in order to get U.S citizenship for the child. It is still unclear how the U.S State Department would determine that people seeking to travel to the U.S are pregnant. The new rule needs that officials reject visa applications when the individual’s primary objective is to get American citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States. The White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham issued a statement.

Stephanie said, “Closing this glaring immigration loophole will combat these endemic abuses and ultimately protect the United States from the national security risks created by this practice. It will also defend American taxpayers from having their hard-earned dollars siphoned away to finance the direct and downstream costs associated with birth tourism. The integrity of American citizenship must be protected”. She alleged that birth tourism overburdens hospital resources and said it is a rife with criminal activity. It is noteworthy that the U.S State Department doesn’t keep official figures documenting the number of foreigners who travel to the United States specifically to give birth.

The U.S State Department said, “The final rule addresses concerns about the attendant risks of this activity to national security and law enforcement, including criminal activity associated with the birth tourism industry, as reflected in federal prosecutions of individuals and entities involved in that industry”. The Center for Immigration Studies has estimated that the 2^nd half of 2016 and 1^st half of 2017 stats show at least 33,000 births to women were recorded visiting the U.S on temporary tourist visas. The new law will take into effect on Friday. So, the individuals travelling to the U.S for medical treatment should have a legitimate medical reason to enter the United States.