The Donald Trump administration has concluded plans to block pregnant women in foreign countries from obtaining United States tourist visas.
The move is to stop, “birth tourism”, the term coined for persons who travel to another to give birth.
“Under this rule, if a consular officer has reason to believe a B nonimmigrant visa applicant will give birth in the United States, the applicant is presumed to be seeking a visa for the primary purpose of obtaining US citizenship for the child,” a draft rule obtained by BuzzFeed News reads.
“To rebut this presumption, the visa applicant must establish, to the satisfaction of a consular officer, a legitimate primary purpose other than obtaining US citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States.”
The draft guidance to be issued for consular officers reads: “Any B nonimmigrant visa applicant who you have reason to believe will give birth during her stay in the United States is presumed to be traveling for the primary purpose of obtaining US citizenship for the child.
“The applicant can overcome this presumption if you find that the primary purpose of travel is not obtaining US citizenship for a child.”
A State Department spokesperson told the platform that, “this change is intended to address the national security and law enforcement risks associated with birth tourism, including criminal activity associated with the birth tourism industry.
“We expect the rule will be published shortly. More details will be available when the rule is published.”
However, officers, however, are told not to ask as a matter of course whether the applicant is pregnant or intends to become pregnant, or require an applicant to provide evidence that they are not pregnant.
Meanwhile, the U.S President, Donald Trump is set to slam travel ban on more countries including Nigeria, Africa’s biggest nation.
An announcement is expected on Monday, January 27, exactly three years after Trump signed the original travel ban on January 27, 2017, just a week into his tenure.
It would be recaled that the ban was upheld by the US Supreme Court in June 26, 2018.
It affected Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea.
For the new restrictions, countries on the list include Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania,
White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, said: “The travel ban has been profoundly successful in protecting our country and raising the security baseline around the world.”
