▲ U.S. President Donald Trump (left) listens to remarks before signing an executive order at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on August 6 (local time).
U.S. President Donald Trump took steps on the 6th (local time) to crack down on the practice of "birth tourism," aimed at securing U.S. citizenship for children.
President Trump held a signing ceremony at the White House and signed an executive order centered on these measures.
Addressing the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in late June that put the brakes on his executive order banning birthright citizenship, President Trump called it a "very regrettable decision" and "very unfair, so we are adjusting [the system]."
Emphasizing the scale of those who benefit from birth tourism, he stated it involves "hundreds of thousands of people."
According to the executive order released by the White House, the purpose of this measure is to prevent individuals engaging in birth tourism from abusing non-immigrant visas, such as tourism or study visas.
Accordingly, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security have been directed to ban entry for individuals intending to give birth within U.S. territory.
Measures including entry bans on foreigners who have previously participated in birth tourism were also included.
Government-level actions can be taken not only against the individuals engaging in birth tourism, but also against organizations and persons who facilitate it.
A clause was also included prohibiting the issuance of documents recognizing U.S. citizenship for babies born through birth tourism by foreign parents.
This applies to babies born in the United States to employees of foreign diplomatic missions, including foreign ambassadors, as well as infants born to individuals classified as belonging to designated terrorist groups and hostile nations.
This executive order is part of the Trump administration's immigration policy aimed at preventing children born to foreign parents temporarily or illegally residing in the United States from acquiring citizenship.
With the executive order banning birthright citizenship having faced a setback at the Supreme Court, this is interpreted as an intention to maintain policy continuity and showcase results to rally supporters ahead of the November midterm elections.
This measure also appears targeted at China.
President Trump has repeatedly voiced complaints that wealthy individuals from China use birth tourism to acquire U.S. citizenship for their children.
Axios reported that despite the Supreme Court ruling, President Trump's renewed clampdown on citizenship acquisition via birth tourism is expected to trigger lawsuits seeking to invalidate the order.
However, the White House maintains that this executive order does not conflict with the spirit of the Supreme Court ruling.
President Trump signed an executive order banning birthright citizenship upon returning to office early last year, but on June 30 of last year, the Supreme Court blocked it, ruling that children born in the U.S. are automatically granted citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
U.S. media reported that birth tourism has grown into a kind of industry in the U.S., with agencies facilitating birth tourism generating massive profits.
In Florida, a company named "Have Your Baby in Miami" has promoted that it facilitated more than 2,000 birth tourism cases, drawing an investigation from the U.S. House of Representatives.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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