The US Department of State has unveiled new rules to deter pregnant women from travelling to the US to give birth.
The policy takes effect on Friday and is intended as a crackdown on what is known as “birth tourism”.
Under the rule, pregnant women applying for US visitor visas may need to prove they have a specific reason for travel other than giving birth on US soil.
Nearly all children born in the US gets automatic citizenship – a law US President Donald Trump has criticised.
His administration says the new travel policy is necessary to safeguard US national security and public health.
Mr Trump has sought to limit immigration to the US, and has previously questioned the US constitutional amendment that grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalised in the United States”.
The Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for stricter immigration laws, estimates that about 33,000 children were born to women on temporary tourist visas between the second half of 2016 and the first half of 2017.
