America Tightens Grip on Birth Tourism, Rubio Says ‘Citizenship Is Not for Sale’; Gold Card Sparks Debate

Washington: America has intensified its action against 'birth tourism'. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that in the last month, visas of more than 600 foreign citizens have been cancelled. The US administration says that this step has been taken to tighten the noose on the networks that help foreigners to give birth to a child in America and acquire American citizenship through it.

Rubio clearly said that American citizenship is not something that can be bought. To take this campaign forward, the US State Department, along with other government departments and agencies, has also formed a special task force.

Why did America initiate such a major action?

The US government is keeping an eye on cases where people arrive in the US on non-immigrant visas primarily for the purpose of giving birth to a child. According to the US State Department, travelling to the US solely for the purpose of giving birth to a child and obtaining US citizenship is not an acceptable basis for issuing a visitor visa.

The administration alleges that some organised networks take advantage of this system and send foreign citizens to America. The scope of investigation is being increased to identify such cases and take action.

How will the task force work to stop berth tourism?

America has created Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force for this campaign. Its purpose is to identify such people and networks who are misusing the visa system. The authorities are also keeping an eye on the activities of visa holders and their travel records and other related matters.

According to Rubio, more than 600 visas have been cancelled in just one month since the task force began work. The US administration has indicated that such action may intensify in the coming times.

Why was there controversy regarding 'Gold Card'?

After Rubio's announcement, discussion about the US administration's 'Gold Card' programme also started on social media. Questions are being raised about this programme: on one hand the administration is talking about stopping efforts to acquire citizenship through birth, while on the other hand a plan to provide a way to live in America through financial contribution is also under discussion.

According to the information revealed regarding 'Gold Card', it has been said that for foreign citizens who contribute large amount of money, a legal path will be provided towards acquiring permanent residence in America and further citizenship. However, this is not a plan to directly sell US citizenship.

After all, what is birth tourism?

Birth tourism is a situation when a foreign citizen travels to America primarily for the purpose of giving birth to a child so that the child can get American citizenship. The US State Department also defines it similarly and makes it clear that obtaining a visitor visa for this purpose is not acceptable.

This is why the US administration is now placing more emphasis on identifying such cases and preventing misuse of visa rules.

What is the situation on the rules of US citizenship?

The issue of citizenship by birth in the United States has long been a subject of political and legal debate. The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution contains a provision related to the citizenship of people born in America.

In such a situation, the focus of the current action is not to end every case of American citizenship but, according to the government, to take action against the networks running berth tourism by misusing visa rules.

The US State Department has clearly indicated through this campaign that it is going to adopt a stricter stance than before regarding the misuse of the visa process.