Congress is planning to crack down on birth tourism after the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling preserved birthright citizenship.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive order ending birthright citizenship for foreigners is unconstitutional. Republican Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt, who wrote an amicus brief in January defending the president’s order, announced his plans to introduce a constitutional amendment to “reign in birthright citizenship” that same day.
“The [Supreme Court] majority tried to constitutionalize unlimited birthright citizenship. But Justice Kavanaugh MAY have left Congress a door … I’m filing legislation to walk through it,” Schmitt posted Tuesday.
The majority tried to constitutionalize unlimited birthright citizenship. But Justice Kavanaugh MAY have left Congress a door.
I’m filing legislation to walk through it.
And I’ll keep working on a constitutional amendment to restore American citizenship. https://t.co/WV8gu1OYhy pic.twitter.com/r8oB9Ks5gc
— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) June 30, 2026
“Our generation’s existential threat is a hostile takeover through mass migration—and the Supreme Court’s decision to allow unlimited birthright citizenship for temporarily present aliens like birth tourists will only encourage more people to abuse the benefits of American citizenship,” Schmitt told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Schmitt told the DCNF that “the financial strain of birth tourism is clear: American taxpayers are paying the price for temporary aliens to take advantage of our systems. If we do not reclaim control of who joins our citizenry, then not only will American taxpayers continue to be robbed and programs intended for our vulnerable be drained, but We the People’s sovereignty will be degraded.”
Birth tourism is when expecting mothers travel to the United States so that their children are born with U.S. citizenship. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a U.S. territory that has become a hot spot for birth tourism among Chinese nationals, New York Post reported in March.
China-watchers estimate that around 1,000 companies facilitate birth tourism in CNMI, New York Post reported. President Barrack Obama ordered in 2009 that Chinese nationals may stay in CNMI without a visa for up to 45 days as a way of stimulating the U.S. territory’s tourism-driven economy.
Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC) did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
CHCC is CNMI’s main healthcare provider. It requested a $5.9 million appropriation from CNMI’s legislature for fiscal year 2027 amid “significant financial strain,” Marianas Variety News reported April 2026. CHCC received nearly $1.1 million from the legislature in fiscal year 2026.
“I never get good answers when I ask the mothers why they’re doing this … But it’s a status symbol for many of the moms. They want their children to go to American universities,” CHCC obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Geoffrey Fraiche told the New York Post. “I tried to encourage them to leave the island because we have limited resources to address high risk anomalous babies but they ended up having their baby here.”
Immigration Accountability Project (IAP) president Chris Chmielenski told the DCNF that while it is hard to be certain that birth tourism is straining CNMI’s healthcare system on account of there being no official estimate, “we know through other estimates that nonimmigrants, particularly illegal aliens, place a financial strain on our healthcare system, so it’s reasonable to assume that there’s some impact on CNMI’s system due to birth tourism.”
“Following the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn President Trump’s executive order, the administration and Congress must double down on restricting both birth tourism and birthright citizenship,” Chmielenski told the DCNF.
Chmielenski recommended that President Trump uses his Section 1182(f) authority that the Supreme Court upheld to halt most entries into the country as to prevent future births from non-citizens, and that Congress exercises its Article I authority over naturalization to define who truly is “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. He also recommended passing the PAUSE Act to place a temporary hold on most legal immigration, and Secure the Border Act to halt most illegal immigration.
Between 225,000 and 250,000 children were born to illegal immigrants in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. U.S. citizens can sponsor their foreign relatives’ citizenship through chain migration.
(DCNF)
