After Supreme Court decision, birth tourism now in crosshairs as battles rage on Capitol Hill

In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling Tuesday on birthright citizenship, two aggressive dynamics reveal the toll of illegal immigration on the nation: a congressional hearing that pitted a Democrat and Republican as loved ones of victims of illegal immigration sobbed in the gallery, and Border Czar Tom Homan promising to ramp up efforts to target and investigate crimes related to birth tourism. 

"Now we step up enforcement," Homan said Tuesday. "Even though we're doing record amounts of enforcement now, we need to do more. And not only that, we need to buckle down on birth tourism. We have many investigations into birth tourism, but we need to triple, quadruple down on this." 

His comments came hours after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship, upholding the interpretation that the 14th Amendment guarantees that children born on U.S. soil are citizens.

Up in arms in the House

Simultaneously, a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on so-called "sanctuary" city policies and victims of crimes by undocumented immigrants turned chaotic. 

Families of victims, including the mother of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman (allegedly killed in Chicago by a Venezuelan national without legal status), testified about the human cost of such policies limiting local-federal cooperation in detaining and deporting illegal migrants. 

The flashpoint was a heated shouting match between Reps. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, and Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat

Lawler, introducing Gorman’s mother, accused Democrats of showing more sympathy for U.S. citizens killed by immigration agents (citing Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota this past winter) than for victims like Gorman and Laken Riley, murdered in 2024 by a Venezuelan in the U.S. illegally. 

He told Raskin he “should be ashamed” for downplaying risks in sanctuary cities, in which local police will not detain illegal aliens in jail until Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can get them. 

Raskin attempted to push back, defending the policies and telling Lawler to “get the hell out” amid attempts by the chairman to restore order. 

Democrats have consistently downplayed the criminal toll of illegal immigration on communities, dating back to the Obama presidency. 

A Boston Globe investigation found that 30% of 323 criminal aliens released in New England between 2008 and 2012 committed new crimes, including rape, robbery, and murder. The recidivism rate was determined to be much higher than what ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and the Obama administration had reported.

Since then, in Texas alone, from June 2011 to May 2026, over 335,000 illegal aliens were booked into jails and charged with more than 600,000 criminal offenses. 

These resulted in over 227,000 convictions, including 614 homicides, 3,951 sexual assaults, 29,599 assaults, 5,506 burglaries, 29,144 drug convictions, 1,996 robberies, and 2,515 weapon convictions.

Historical full criminal histories for these individuals show even higher totals: 912 homicide convictions and 5,397 sexual assault convictions.

Older USGAO (Government Accountability Office) analysis found criminal aliens averaging seven arrests and 12-13 offenses each, with hundreds of thousands incarcerated federally and in states. 

The Court supercharged birth tourism

The "conventional" interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause – that essentially anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically a citizen, has "created a constitutional loophole that has supercharged a multi-billion-dollar birth tourism industry, and has turned American citizenship into a commodity for sale," the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates for low immigration numbers, said in April when the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the issue. 

Another argument against so-called birthright citizenship is that once such children reach adulthood, they can sponsor their non-citizen parents for green cards—igniting chains of family-based immigration—while also acquiring the right to vote and, eventually, to run for any public office in the country, including the presidency.

Researchers estimate 5,000 to 26,000 babies born annually from birth tourism.

Key Prosecutable Crimes in Birth Tourism Schemes

While the general practice of birth tourism remains legal following the Supreme Court's decision, a number of actions often committed in the process of birth tourism are prosecutable crimes. 

Visa fraud is the most common charge. It covers knowingly making false statements on visa applications, to consular officers during interviews, or to Customs and Border Protection at ports of entry. Typical misrepresentations include claiming the purpose of travel is tourism, business, or a short visit when the primary intent is to give birth and stay for weeks or months; understating the length of stay; or concealing pregnancy.

Wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud are also common charges, used when schemes involve interstate or international wire communications (e.g., emails, phone calls) to further the fraud.

Money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering are common in commercial operations in birth tourism. Clients pay tens of thousands of dollars (often via international wire transfers) for “packages” that include housing in maternity apartments/hotels, medical arrangements, transportation, and document assistance. Prosecutors have traced millions in such transfers. 

Making materially false statements in any matter within federal jurisdiction is also a broadly applicable charge. 

In some schemes, operators or participants have submitted improper Medicaid or other insurance claims, or left substantial unpaid hospital bills that shift costs to U.S. taxpayers or providers, which leads to healthcare fraud-related charges. 

Identity theft-related charges also often apply, involving unlawful use of means of identification in connection with the schemes.