During oral argument before the US Supreme Court on Wednesday, Solicitor General John Sauer referenced “birth tourism” from foreign nations as part of the reason for the Trump administration’s executive order to narrow the terms under which a person may claim birthright American citizenship. Sauer told the justices that “China has 500 birth tourism companies to bring people here to give birth and then return to that nation.”
Sauer’s number, based on an older source, is actually off by 100 percent, according to Peter Schweizer’s new bestselling book, The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon. New research done by the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) for the book found more than 1,000 companies in the People’s Republic of China that currently offer “birth tourism” services. GAI researchers reviewed Chinese birth tourism activity in the US, chiefly happening in Southern California and in the US Pacific territory of Saipan.
Their newer research suggests the birth tourism industry in China has doubled in the past 10 years.
Birth tourism refers to foreign nationals coming to US soil specifically to give birth to a child so that child may claim American citizenship. On Trump’s first day in office in 2025, he issued an executive order directing all federal agencies to refuse issuing US citizenship documents to children born to illegal immigrants, or to children who do not have at least one parent that is an American citizen or a lawful permanent resident.
That executive order never went into effect, however, because a lower federal court enjoined it while the legal challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union goes forward. Trump has argued that birthright citizenship, first codified in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, was meant to apply to the children of freed slaves and to people in the country legally, while opponents see the citizenship clause of the Amendment – “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside” [emphasis added] – as encompassing any child born on American soil. The Court’s ruling will likely turn on how it interprets that clause in light of a flood of illegal migration and activities such as birth tourism by foreign nationals to exploit it.
Schweizer’s book also reported that between 75,000 and 150,000 Chinese babies are born every year on American soil, then repatriated to China shortly after birth. Schweizer’s reporting was cited in an amicus curiae brief for Trump v. Barbara, the case the Court is now considering. Its ruling is expected in June or possibly July.
Schweizer’s findings were an eye-opener for many on Capitol Hill. In March, Schweizer was called to testify by the Senate Homeland Security’s subcommittee on the Constitution to detail this research and its implications.
“The scale of this exploitation is staggering, yet the US government does not systematically track it,” Schweizer told senators. “Chinese officials have estimated 50,000 of their citizens per year engage in birth tourism; scholars such as Australian professor Salvatore Babones suggest the number is closer to 100,000 annually, potentially resulting in millions of new elite, American ‘citizens’ who are reared and acculturated in Communist China,” Schweizer testified.
“These individuals grow up in China, often educated in CCP-controlled schools with distorted views of US history, values, and culture,” Schweizer told the committee. “They have no lived connection or demonstrated allegiance to our country, yet they possess full rights as US citizens: the ability to vote in elections, relocate here at will, and—upon turning 21— sponsor their parents as permanent residents.”
During Wednesday’s oral arguments before the Supreme Court, Sauer also told justices that the previous interpretation of who qualifies for US birthright citizenship “spawned an industry of birth tourism.” In his questions to both sides, Justice Samuel Alito also referenced birth tourism, specifically to Russians who have been known to travel to Miami, Florida as a “hotspot” for this purpose.
Chief Justice John Roberts, however, challenged the relevance of birth tourism as a reason to change the traditional understanding of birthright citizenship from a legal standpoint. “That has no impact on the legal analysis,” he told Sauer.
Sauer’s response, echoing Justice Alito, was that the world today now has 8 billion people who are just a plane ride away from the US. “It’s a new world,” he told Roberts.
Well, it’s a new world, but it’s the same Constitution,” Roberts responded.
