INTERNACIONAL
Trump admin puts alleged ‘birth tourism’ scheme on notice as expert delivers warning to hospitals
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The Trump administration is using visa enforcement to target «birth tourism,» an alleged scheme utilized by foreign nationals to obtain visitor visas for the primary purpose of giving birth in the U.S. and securing American citizenship for their children.
The Trump administration recently announced that it disrupted «a sophisticated birth tourism network» in West Africa involving more than 100 foreign nationals utilizing false documents and, what the State Department described as «fixers,» to get themselves visas to go to the United States to give birth so their children would be born on U.S. soil and treated as American citizens.
But that was just one of the networks the State Department indicated it had uncovered. The agency’s announcement said U.S. officials identified more than 400 suspected birth tourism cases emanating from Europe since 2024, and tied to at least six companies that helped coach applicants on what to say during their visa interview, arranged housing and set-up delivery plans.
«We shut it down, revoked these foreign nationals’ visas, and are coordinating with local authorities to systematically identify and cut off any similar operations,» the State Department said in its announcement. «A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right. The State Department is taking action around the world to stop this abuse, dismantle birth tourism networks, and hold accountable those who try to scam our system.»
SEN. BLACKBURN TARGETS BIRTH TOURISM, ‘BUYING AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP’ IN SUPPORT OF TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION AGENDA
Secretary of State Marco Rubio boards his plane at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, April 2, 2025, en route to NATO in Belgium. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The effort comes as Trump has renewed his long-running criticism of birthright citizenship, including through a 2025 executive order seeking to narrow who is automatically treated as a U.S. citizen at birth. It also builds on a first-term Trump administration rule from 2020 that instructed consular officers to deny visitor visas to foreign nationals believed to be traveling to the U.S. primarily to give birth and obtain American citizenship for their children.
«President Trump will always put the American people first. Uninhibited birth tourism poses a tremendous cost to taxpayers and threatens our national security,» White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital. «The Trump administration is effectively ending this practice, which brings the United States in line with the policy of most countries around the world.»
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Federation for American Immigration Reform’s Ira Mehlman noted to Fox News Digital that visa fraud is «a significant issue,» pointing out it is a problem even outside the framework of birth tourism.
«The prospect of birthright citizenship is undeniably an inducement for people to commit visa fraud,» Mehlman said. «Birth tourism would not exist otherwise.»
«Obviously, any woman who does not disclose her intention to have her baby in the U.S. when she applies for a visa is committing fraud. Remove the incentive of automatic birthright citizenship for people who are not citizens and legal permanent residents, and the reason for committing this sort of fraud goes away,» he continued.
A woman pushing stroller on street. (iStock)
Birth tourism has surfaced repeatedly in the U.S. in recent years, particularly through operations accused of coaching foreign nationals to obscure the purpose of their travel.
In California, federal prosecutors secured convictions against the operators of USA Happy Baby, a company accused of helping Chinese women travel to the U.S. to give birth to American-citizen children, while a separate operator from a business called You Win USA pleaded guilty in another case stemming from a broader federal crackdown.
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More recently, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued a Houston-area postpartum center accused of facilitating more than 1,000 births for primarily Chinese clients, while House Oversight Republicans launched an inquiry into several U.S.-based companies allegedly advertising birth-tourism services.
A pair of migrant families from Brazil pass through a gap in the border wall to reach the United States after crossing from Mexico to Yuma, Ariz., to seek asylum. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia, File)
Mehlman urged Congress to do more to enhance vetting of visa applicants, prosecute those who commit fraud and put an end to birth tourism. He said there were avenues for legal action against the entities allegedly facilitating the scheme.
«To the extent that we can take legal action against companies that are outside the United States, we should, much like we prosecute other types of transnational crime and fraud operations,» Mehlman told Fox News Digital. «But each one of these companies works with service providers here in the U.S., including hospitals.»
administration, immigration, enforcement, naturalization, state department
INTERNACIONAL
Indonesian passenger ship carrying 240 people loses contact in Java Sea, search underway
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A passenger ship carrying 240 people vanished from contact in the Java Sea on Sunday local time, triggering an urgent search as Indonesian crews raced to locate the vessel.
The Virgo Transport 8 was traveling from Surabaya, East Java, to Banjarmasin on the island of Borneo when communications with the ship were lost, the Associated Press reported, citing Indonesia’s Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office.
Authorities said the vessel was last tracked roughly 92 miles from a pier in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan province.
MOM LOSES GRIP ON DAUGHTER AS PASSENGER FERRY CAPSIZES WITH 20 PEOPLE STILL MISSING
Authorities are searching for the Virgo Transport 8 after the passenger ship lost contact while traveling from East Java to South Kalimantan. (EyesWideOpen/Getty Images)
Search-and-rescue teams launched an operation after receiving a report that the ship had suffered a communications failure during the voyage, according to the AP.
Officials had not reported any deaths or injuries as of Sunday, and it was not immediately clear what caused the vessel to lose contact or whether weather conditions were affecting the search.
MULTIPLE RESCUED FROM PONTOON BOAT NEAR ALCATRAZ AS SEARCH CONTINUES FOR MISSING PERSONS
The Virgo Transport 8 lost contact while traveling from Surabaya to Banjarmasin, according to officials. (EyesWideOpen/Getty Images)
The Virgo Transport 8 departed Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, before losing contact while crossing the Java Sea toward South Kalimantan.
The search remains underway.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
world, asia world regions, missing persons
INTERNACIONAL
‘Trump-level’ smackdown earns Vance roaring praise as 2028 buzz builds at GOP convention
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Republicans reached a consensus that Vice President JD Vance solidified his position as the presumptive 2028 presidential candidate with his «Trump-level» smackdown of a foreign flag-waving protester who disrupted his speech at the Republican National Convention.
Vance did not hesitate after a protester interrupted his primetime speech in Dallas on Thursday by waving the flags of the Palestinian Authority and Mexico. He recalled to those watching his speech on TV: «What the people at home missed is that we just had a protester interrupting us and waving the Mexican flag.»
«Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your a– over there. I’ll buy you the plane ticket,» the VP said, to which the crowd erupted into applause.
«JD Vance just MIC DROPPED a leftist heckler who interrupted him waving a Mexican flag…this place is DEAFENING,» conservative commentator Eric Daugherty wrote on X, adding, «TOTAL PANDEMONIUM.»
CROWD ERUPTS AS VANCE SMACKS DOWN PROTESTER WAVING MEXICAN FLAG: ‘GET YOUR A– OVER THERE’
A protestor throws a Mexican flag as Vice President JD Vance speaks during the second day of the Republican National Committee midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on September 10, 2026. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
Popular conservative pundit Benny Johnson called Vance’s quick wit an «epic response.» President Donald Trump supporter and activist Scott Pressler similarly praised Vance for reacting «without missing a beat,» and called it «an iconic moment.»
«This was masterful. A Trump-level move from JD Vance,» wrote Overton, a conservative commentary and news account. «Vice President Vance perfectly handled a protestor waving a Mexican flag at the RNC in Dallas. Then he fired back with a savage one-liner that sent the American Airlines Center into absolute bedlam.»
The moment was capped off with a «USA!» chant from those in the crowd at the GOP Midterm Convention.
Students for Trump co-founder Ryan Fournier wrote, «JD Vance just absolute [sic] WIPED THE FLOOR with a leftist heckler who interrupted his rally waving a Mexican flag.»
«The crowd went completely WILD. Unbelievable energy,» wrote Fournier.
VANCE DECLARES DEMOCRATS ‘PARTY OF HATRED,’ SAYS PARTY HAS MOVED BEYOND BIG GOVERNMENT, CENSORSHIP
Vice President JD Vance introduces U.S. President Donald Trump to speak on stage on the second day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center on September 10, 2026, in Dallas, Texas. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
«JD Vance just notched the most iconic moment of the RNC when he told a protester waving a Mexican flag exactly what all red blooded Americans were thinking,» wrote Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet.
Commentator Brilyn Hollyhand put it simply, posting on X, «Yea JD for President after this.»
Vance recovered from the interruption quickly, telling the crowd, «Ladies and gentlemen, I had a whole speech written. But I think I’ve got to change it because we just discovered the symbol of the far left — an idiot waving … a Mexican flag at a protest when he should be waving the flag of the United States of America.»
«Now, we all know, of course, that as much as that person might wave around a foreign flag, he’d much rather live in Dallas, or in Cincinnati, or in any one of our great cities than Mexico,» President Donald Trump’s No. 2 continued. «But while we wave the American flag and fight for the American dream, we have to remind ourselves tonight that the good life that is the foundation of this country’s promise is not guaranteed.»
CHARLIE KIRK HONORED AT GOP CONVENTION WITH CALL TO REJECT ‘COMFORTABLE LOSING’
People hold signs on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center on September 9, 2026, in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
«Every generation of Americans has had to fight for these things when it’s our turn,» he went on.
«And this fall, the Democrats are running candidates who will tell your children what they’re allowed to say, how they’re allowed to live, and importantly, who they ought to hate, because that’s what the Democrat Party is about in 2026,» Vance continued. «It’s not about you, it’s about foreign fraudsters, and it’s about who they hate. And we got to send their a–es back in November.»
Speculation has swirled over who will be the heir to Trump’s MAGA throne in 2028. The consensus so far among Republicans appears to be split between Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — but a lot could change before the next presidential election.
jd vance, republican convention, politics, dallas fort worth, texas, donald trump, us protests
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House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., remembers exactly where he was when the World Trade Center was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
«I was a senior in high school. I was in Mr. Ponzi’s government class. And that’s when the first plane hit. And one of the other teachers came in and was telling Mr. Ponzi about it,» he told Fox News Digital. «We all thought it was a little plane. And then we went to the next class. And then the second plane hit, and everybody realized that stuff was wrong.»
Twenty-five years later, Garbarino leads a congressional committee that oversees a Cabinet department created explicitly after the terror attack. He’s warning that Congress needs to change how it deals with potential threats to avoid another tragedy of that scale.
«Being chairman of the committee, being a New Yorker, it’s one of those things you focus on, and you want to make sure another 9/11 doesn’t happen, and doesn’t ever happen again. And that’s my goal. That’s my priority,» he said.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., is sounding the alarm against congressional «complacency,» 25 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (Newspix via Getty Images)
9/11 IS BECOMING HISTORY. MY GENERATION MUST MAKE SURE AMERICA NEVER FORGETS
«Congress is very good at being reactive… We don’t want another 9/11. So if I could leave my fingerprints on something here, it’s the fact that the focus, Congress’ focus on national security, Congress’ focus on homeland security or safety, is that we address an issue before something happens.»
HOW 9/11 TRANSFORMED SYNAGOGUE SECURITY INTO A NEW REALITY FOR THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
He said Congress needed to get into the habit of passing laws ahead of time, «instead of being like, ‘Oh my God I can’t believe this happened, how did this happen, let’s fix it now.’»
«That’s why 9/11 happened. 9/11 happened because our intelligence agencies, they were siloed, they were not sharing information. I don’t know if it was a complacency or whatever, but there were a lot of problems,» Garbarino said. «I don’t want to fall into that same complacency.»
Garbarino represents New York’s 2nd Congressional District, part of Long Island’s south shore. As a suburb of New York City, its residents are deeply attuned to that tragedy 25 years ago.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Andrew Garbarino presides over a hearing in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington on Dec. 11, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
«We have people that lost loved ones that day that are still dealing with it 25 years later,» Garbarino said. «So the scar is still there.»
His district and others are also still dealing with illnesses stemming from that day, including first responders who bravely rushed to the collapsing twin towers.
«There are now more people that have died from 9/11-related illnesses than died on the actual day. So it’s a day that keeps taking people away from us,» Garbarino said.
«You have firemen who, 9/11 was their first call. They were 21, 22 years old. They’re now 47… And a lot of these, some of these cancers, they take a while to take hold, and they’re now just getting sick.»
SCIENTISTS DISCOVER POSSIBLE LINK BETWEEN 9/11 AND ACCELERATED AGING
People rush away from the collapsing World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, after two hijacked airplanes hit the twin towers in New York City in a terrorist attack. (Getty Images)
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed legislation led by Garbarino and others to address a projected funding shortfall for the World Trade Center Health Program, which helps survivors pay for their medical treatment.
He said nearly all congressional districts across the country have at least one person participating in the program, a testament to how widespread the tragedy’s effects are.
«People moved out of New York, people who came from all over the country after 9/11 to help, they all went back home, they also got sick. So this does affect the entire country,» Garbarino said.
september 11, politics, new york city, homeland security, terror
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