Mexican Parents With US-Born Children Face New Visa Questions Under Trump’s Border Crackdown

Mexican parents with U.S.-born children are facing increased questioning at border crossings, while some families are changing their routines to avoid losing their visitor visas under the Trump administration’s crackdown on so-called birth tourism.

The State Department confirmed it had revoked thousands of visas, including some belonging to parents living along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to NPR. The department did not disclose how many revocations involved border residents or whether officers had been instructed to question parents about their children’s birthplaces.

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Other parents have stopped accompanying their U.S.-born children to school, leaving relatives to escort them across the border.

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El Paso immigration attorney Kathleen Walker told NPR that visitor visas do not authorize travel whose primary purpose is securing U.S. citizenship for a newborn.

Reuters reported back in September that the State Department had drafted rules requiring parents applying for children’s U.S. passports to document their own citizenship or immigration status.

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