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The Justice Department isn’t backing down on immigration enforcement despite the Supreme Court’s ruling against President Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and DOJ fraud czar Colin McDonald announced a new crackdown on so-called “birth tourism” schemes that exploit American immigration law. The announcement came the same day the Supreme Court handed down its 5-4 decision blocking Trump’s effort to end automatic citizenship for children born to illegal aliens and temporary visitors. McDonald directed federal prosecutors to “zealously protect the sanctity of United States citizenship by investigating and prosecuting those who fraudulently exploit our immigration system.” The DOJ’s memo highlighted several recent prosecutions that show just how widespread this problem has become. In 2024, a husband-and-wife team running “USA Happy Baby” were each sentenced to 41 months in prison for operating a birth tourism business catering to Chinese nationals, charging clients tens of thousands of dollars and helping them fraudulently obtain U.S. visas. Another operator, Ibrahim Aksakal, received 27 months for running a scheme targeting Turkish women, instructing them on how to conceal their pregnancies when entering the country. Perhaps most shocking was the case of Chao “Edwin” Chen, whose “You Win USA” business employed 100 people across the U.S. and China and helped more than 500 customers give birth on American soil. Chen charged as much as $80,000 per client and was sentenced to 37 months for what prosecutors called a “large-scale birth tourism scheme.” The numbers are staggering. The Migration Policy Institute estimates 26,000 babies are born annually to birth tourists, while the Center for Immigration Studies puts the figure at 33,000 births to women on tourist visas alone, with hundreds of thousands more born to illegal aliens or those on temporary visas. Blanche called birth tourism a “booming industry” and stated what should be obvious: “Everybody should agree that it’s a violation of our laws if your intent in coming here, if you’re pregnant, is to have a child that’s a United States citizen.” The administration is making clear that while the Supreme Court may have tied one hand behind its back on birthright citizenship, it will use every tool available to stop the exploitation of American generosity. The message is simple: come here legally, or don’t come at all.
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