DOJ to – The Justice Department has ordered prosecutors to investigate alleged “birth tourism” fraud schemes after the Supreme Court struck down limits on birthright citizenship. In a memo, an assistant attorney general said cases could be pursued under a range of exis
For people drawn to the United States by the promise of a fast path to citizenship for their children. the Justice Department’s new directive changes the risk calculation. Prosecutors have been told to look closely at “birth tourism” schemes—allegations that some foreign nationals come to the country under false pretenses to give birth and secure U.S. citizenship.
The order came after the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to restrict birthright citizenship through an executive action. In a memo. Colin McDonald. the assistant attorney general for fraud enforcement. directed prosecutors to investigate whether people arriving in the U.S. “under ‘false pretenses’ to give birth and secure citizenship for their child could be criminally charged” under federal laws that bar visa fraud. money laundering. identity theft and wire fraud.
McDonald said the U.S. already has laws that reach conduct “inherent” to many so-called birth tourism schemes. He pointed to schemes that begin with “a false visa application—with lies about the purpose or duration of one’s travel to the United States.”
The directive also reflects a wider response to a major loss for the Trump administration. The attempt to limit birthright citizenship was one of his top immigration priorities. and the administration moved quickly after the court overturned it. Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term to restrict citizenship and became the first sitting president to attend a Supreme Court argument when the justices heard the case this spring. He urged Congress to adopt similar restrictions in legislation after Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote an opinion saying the 14th Amendment would allow them.
But Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for a 5-4 majority that the amendment provides citizenship for everyone born in the country.
Even with that constitutional ruling in place. the memo’s focus is narrower and sharper: fraud and criminal conduct. not the citizenship outcome itself. The department said the number of criminal cases of alleged birth tourism is relatively small. and so is the number of children born to short-term visitors.
To show how prosecutors might frame charges, McDonald cited three cases.
In 2024, husband-wife defendants Michael Wei Yueh Liu and Jing Dong were convicted and sentenced to 41 months in prison each. They were accused of running a business called “USA Happy Baby” that charged Chinese clients tens of thousands of dollars to help arrange childbirth in the United States.
In 2022, Ibrahim Aksakal was convicted and sentenced to 27 months in prison for conspiring to health-care and wire fraud. Prosecutors said Aksakal advertised a birth tourism scheme on Turkish-language social media pages. The court ordered Aksakal to pay $1 million in restitution and forfeit nearly $400,000.
In 2020, Chao “Edwin” Chen was convicted and sentenced to 37 months in prison for operating a business called “You Win USA” with a 100-person team in China and the United States. Prosecutors said the business served more than 500 customers and charged between $40,000 and $80,000 each.
“As these examples make clear, birth tourism schemes exploit our immigration system and violate criminal law,” McDonald said.
The memo lands in an environment where even basic numbers are contested. The number of babies born to birth tourists in the U.S. is “highly disputed” because the government does not track the figures. Estimates cited in the record range from as high as 39,000 annually to as low as 2,000.
That disagreement has also played out in court. A group of 140 university professors told the Supreme Court in a written argument that birth tourism “accounts for an infinitesimal proportion of children” given the 3.6 million births in the U.S. each year.
The through-line is clear: the Supreme Court decision closed the door on limits implemented through the Trump administration’s birthright citizenship executive approach. but the Justice Department is now directing attention to the allegations of fraud that investigators say often accompany these schemes. For immigration enforcement. it’s a pivot from changing citizenship rules to pursuing criminal exposure tied to visa applications and financial crimes.
DOJ birth tourism Supreme Court birthright citizenship Colin McDonald fraud enforcement visa fraud wire fraud money laundering identity theft Trump immigration policy