Sponsors (2)
The bill sharply increases tools to deter, detect, and prosecute commercial birth-tourism and to speed denials and removals—potentially reducing organized abuses and protecting federal funds—at the cost of expanded detention and criminal exposure, diminished judicial and privacy safeguards, higher taxpayer expenses, and strong impacts on pregnant visitors, families, and those who assist them.
Immigration enforcement and the public: the bill creates tougher deterrence and removal tools (criminal penalties, mandatory detention, denials for fraud-related birth-tourism offenses, and a coordinated task force), making it more likely organized birth-tourism schemes are identified, prosecuted, and prevented.
Federal immigration and consular officers: gives clearer statutory authority and standardized procedures to deny admission, detain, and expedite removal decisions (including non-waivable grounds and explicit detention authority), which can speed case resolution and make enforcement more consistent across offices.
Federal healthcare programs and taxpayers: criminalizes fraud, embezzlement, and misuse of federal health funds tied to organized birth-tourism activity, helping protect program integrity and financial resources.
Immigrants and families: the bill expands mandatory detention, narrows relief (non‑waivable grounds and parole bars), and strips federal judicial review for expedited removals, increasing risks of wrongful exclusion, deportation, and family separation.
Women of reproductive age and visitors: the medical-certification and mandatory-exam provisions target people based on pregnancy potential, enabling intrusive exams, short-term detention, and privacy/discrimination concerns that could chill travel and bodily autonomy.
Taxpayers and government budgets: mandatory detention, additional prosecutions, medical exams, expanded enforcement coordination, and potential legal defense and litigation costs are likely to increase federal and local spending.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Creates new criminal offenses for facilitating birth tourism, adds non-waivable inadmissibility/deportability grounds, expands detention and expedited removal, and requires medical screening for B-visa applicants.
Official title: Bar aliens from admission to the United States to give birth on United States soil or remaining in the United States to undermine the sovereignty of the United States through birth tourism.
Introduced May 12, 2026 by John Cornyn · Last progress May 12, 2026
Creates new criminal offenses and immigration bars aimed at people and businesses that arrange or facilitate so-called “birth tourism,” and expands detention, expedited removal, visa screening, and temporary medical certification for suspected pregnant nonimmigrant visitors. It directs DHS to set up an interagency taskforce, requires reporting, and allows top department heads to skip certain paperwork and notice-and-comment rulemaking to implement the law immediately. The law takes effect on enactment.