Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s State Department has dismantled organized “birth tourism” networks across West Africa, North Africa, and Europe, revoking hundreds of visitor visas tied to schemes that helped pregnant foreign nationals enter the United States to give birth and secure automatic citizenship for their children.

The department detailed more than 600 cases in a June 10 series of posts on X, framing the enforcement push as a defense of the “integrity of U.S. citizenship” against foreigners obtaining visitor visas for the primary purpose of childbirth.

A U.S. Embassy in West Africa uncovered a network of more than 100 foreign nationals using fraudulent documents and visa “fixers”; an U.S. Embassy in North Africa revoked more than 100 additional visas issued to parents who traveled chiefly to deliver in the U.S.

The European caseload runs deeper.

Investigators identified more than 400 suspected birth tourism cases since 2024, linking at least six companies to operations that coached applicants through consular interviews and arranged housing and delivery plans on U.S. soil. Several applicants had visas revoked, and some were permanently barred from entering the country.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, appearing on Fox News, said the networks treat U.S. citizenship “as if it was a commodity” and routinely shift medical costs onto American taxpayers when birth tourists pay only the minimum for hospital care, according to a transcript of the segment published by Mediaite.

The department said it is coordinating with foreign authorities to identify parallel operations.

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