{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.scott.senate.gov/media-center/press-releases/sen-tim-scott-introduces-legislation-to-crack-down-on-foreign-birth-tourism-industry/", "Sen. Tim Scott introduces legislation to crack down on foreign birth\u00a0tourism industry", "2026-09-24", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "Senate", "SC", "Tim Scott", "S001184", "www.scott.senate.gov", "timscott", "https://www.scott.senate.gov/media-center/press-releases/jsf/jet-engine:press-list", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) today introduced legislation targeting the commercial birth tourism industry and the misuse of U.S. temporary travel programs. The Birth Tourism Elimination Act would prohibit foreign nationals from using certain temporary travel programs for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States to obtain U.S. citizenship for their children and strengthen enforcement against those who facilitate the practice.\n\nFederal prosecutors have uncovered organized birth tourism operations catering to Chinese nationals, including operations that charged customers tens of thousands of dollars to travel to the United States to give birth. In one case, a birth tourism company, You Win USA Vacation Services Corp., advertised that it had assisted more than 500 Chinese birth tourism customers, used 20 apartments in California, and charged customers between $40,000 and $80,000. The company received $3 million in international wire transfers from China over two years.\n\n\u201cAmerican citizenship is not for sale, and foreign nationals have no right to buy citizenship for their children,\u201d said Sen. Scott. \u201cThe birth tourism industry has disrespected what it means to be an American by selling and profiting from the freedoms and values that men and women across our country died for. We are blessed to live in the greatest nation on God\u2019s green Earth, and my bill makes it clear that our temporary travel programs cannot be exploited for the purpose of obtaining American citizenship.\u201d\n\nThe legislation follows the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Trump v. Barbara, which held that, under the 14th Amendment\u2019s citizenship clause, children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are \u201csubject to the jurisdiction\u201d of the United States and are citizens at birth.\n\nRather than changing who qualifies for birthright citizenship, the Birth Tourism Elimination Act targets the practice before an individual enters the United States and strengthens enforcement against the commercial operations that facilitate it. The bill would codify the Department of State\u2019s 2020 restriction on using B visas primarily for birth tourism and expand enforcement across other temporary entry programs, such as the Visa Waiver Program.\n\nThe legislation does not apply the restriction to every visa category, protecting women whose pregnancies or childbirth are incidental to their legitimate presence in the United States for employment, education, or other purposes, and are not engaged in the birth tourism industry.\n\nRead the full text of the legislation here.\n\nBackground:", 1, "2026-09-25T10:04:52Z", "2026-09-25T10:05:46Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.scott.senate.gov/media-center/press-releases/sen-tim-scott-introduces-legislation-to-crack-down-on-foreign-birth-tourism-industry/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7982519455254078, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}