The United States has issued a stern warning to Nigerians considering travel to America solely to give birth and secure automatic citizenship for their children—a practice widely known as birth tourism.
In a post on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria declared that such intentions are grounds for visa denial.
“We will deny your visa if we believe your primary purpose of travel is to give birth in the United States to get U.S. citizenship for your child,” the Mission stated unequivocally. “Using your visa to travel for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States so that your child will have U.S. citizenship is not permitted.”
Birth tourism hinges on jus soli—a principle of birthright citizenship which grants nationality to anyone born on U.S. soil. While legal under U.S. constitutional law, the practice has drawn growing criticism for being abused, particularly by foreigners who seek the benefits of American citizenship for their children without any ties to the country.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to shut the door on this practice through an executive order that aims to revoke birthright citizenship for children born to non-citizen parents in the U.S. The directive, slated to take effect in February 2025, has sparked intense legal battles.
Just last Friday, a federal judge issued a nationwide injunction halting implementation of the executive order. The decision marks the third legal roadblock against the policy, following a Supreme Court ruling in June that limited the power of lower courts to issue sweeping national injunctions.
Judge Joseph Laplante, delivering the latest ruling, emphasized the magnitude of the issue, calling U.S. citizenship “the greatest privilege that exists in the world.” He criticized the Trump-era policy as “a government overreach” executed without legislative backing or public discourse.
Laplante added that denying citizenship to thousands of individuals previously granted it under longstanding constitutional protections would cause “irreparable harm.”
As the legal saga unfolds, the U.S. is making one thing clear to Nigerian travelers: seeking a visa under false pretenses, especially for birth tourism, will not be tolerated.
