AG War Room Targets Birth Tourism Rings

Rows of bassinets filled with newborns of foreign nationals in Texas hospitals have sparked a new push to make “birth tourism” a felony and a direct test of what states can do after the Supreme Court reaffirmed birthright citizenship.

Story Snapshot

Texas Rep. Brian Harrison is pressing Governor Greg Abbott for a special session to make birth tourism a felony and tighten state enforcement.
The plan targets businesses that sell birth‑tourism packages and would let the Texas Attorney General build a dedicated enforcement unit.
The Supreme Court’s Trump v. Barbara ruling reaffirmed birthright citizenship, creating a major constitutional clash over parts of Harrison’s plan.
Evidence of organized birth‑tourism schemes exists, but critics say the overall numbers are small and question whether new felonies are justified.

Harrison’s Plan: Felony Charges And A Showdown With Washington

Texas State Representative Brian Harrison, a Republican from Midlothian, is demanding that Governor Greg Abbott call a special session to crack down on birth tourism with new felony crimes and tougher state enforcement tools. Harrison wants Texas law to make it a felony to operate or take part in a birth‑tourism business inside the state, expand the state’s illegal‑entry crime to include crossing into Texas for birth tourism, and stop issuing birth certificates to children of non‑citizens. His plan also calls for a formal state resolution condemning the Supreme Court’s recent birthright‑citizenship ruling in Trump v. Barbara and urging Congress to “fix” the federal citizenship rules.

Harrison’s proposal includes detailed language for new sections of the Texas Penal Code that would hit both sides of the industry. One section would create a second‑degree felony, with possible enhancement to a first‑degree felony, for anyone who operates a birth‑tourism business, such as those that market package deals to foreign mothers. A separate offense would apply to people who knowingly participate in such packages, starting at a state‑jail felony and rising to a third‑degree felony in some cases. Harrison argues this mirrors what Texas already did when it created a state‑level illegal‑entry felony in 2023 and that the same logic can be used to target those who come to Texas mainly to secure U.S. passports for their newborns.

Attorney General Power, Hospital Investigations, And Real Birth‑Tourism Cases

The proposal would also give the Texas Attorney General new, explicit authority to investigate and prosecute birth‑tourism schemes. Harrison’s draft text orders the creation of a Birth Tourism Enforcement Unit within 90 days, with power to seek civil fines of ten thousand dollars per day for each violation, on top of any criminal charges. Governor Abbott has already signaled concern over the issue by directing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to investigate reports that a Rio Grande Valley hospital was tied to organized “birth tourism” packages. That state probe, if released in full, could show how such plans are marketed, how many foreign women used them, and whether hospital staff or outside brokers broke any laws.

While critics say Harrison has not named specific companies in his public comments, other Texas cases show the industry is not just theory. The Texas Attorney General has sued a Houston‑area center that allegedly helped Chinese nationals travel to Texas, give birth, and then return home, all while charging fees of tens of thousands of dollars for “full service” arrangements. A U.S. Senate report led by Senator Rob Portman found that foreign parents sometimes pay large cash sums to American firms that help them secure visas, housing, and hospital care so their children can gain citizenship. In 2020, the U.S. Department of State changed its visa rules so consular officers can deny tourist visas if they believe the main purpose of travel is to give birth in the United States for the sake of citizenship. Federal law already allows prosecutors to charge visa fraud when people lie about their plans to give birth in America, but the scale of actual prosecutions, especially in Texas, has been limited.

Supreme Court Roadblock And The Fight Over Birthright Citizenship

The largest fight is not over whether birth‑tourism businesses exist, but over what Texas can lawfully do without violating the Constitution’s promise of birthright citizenship. In Trump v. Barbara, the Supreme Court ruled five to four that children born in the United States to parents who are here unlawfully or only on temporary status are still citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that these children meet both parts of the Citizenship Clause and that neither the president nor Congress can change that by executive order or ordinary laws. The ruling also said the clause follows the old English rule of “right of soil,” which means almost any child born on U.S. land, with narrow exceptions such as children of foreign diplomats, is a citizen.

That decision creates a direct clash with one of Harrison’s most aggressive demands: his call for Texas to stop issuing birth certificates to children of non‑citizens. Legal analysis of his draft bill notes that Texas cannot constitutionally withhold vital records for babies who plainly qualify as citizens under binding Supreme Court precedent. Even many conservative lawyers say states may be able to criminalize fraud, zoning violations, or illegal business practices tied to birth tourism, but they cannot deny citizenship or the paper proof of it once a child is born on U.S. soil. Critics also point out that the Migration Policy Institute describes birth tourism as “rare,” estimating roughly five thousand to twenty‑six thousand such births nationwide in a typical year, a tiny share of the more than three and a half million annual U.S. births. That framing could make it harder to build broad public support for felony penalties, especially when the Supreme Court has already spoken clearly on the core citizenship question.

What Comes Next For Texas Conservatives

For conservatives in Texas and across the country, the stakes are about more than one bill; they are about whether states have any tools left to defend citizenship, secure their borders, and protect taxpayer‑funded services. Many on the right see rows of bassinets filled with children of foreign tourists as a symbol of how global elites and foreign governments exploit American generosity and ignore the rule of law. Harrison’s plan tries to shift the fight to the parts of birth tourism that are still open to state action, such as making it painful to run or buy into birth‑tourism packages and shining a light on any Texas hospitals or brokers that profit from them. At the same time, the Supreme Court’s ruling means that any honest conversation must admit a hard truth: under current law, the child born here is still an American citizen, no matter how much we dislike the way that result was engineered.

That leaves Texas conservatives with a two‑track path. First, they can back targeted state laws that punish fraud, expose shady businesses, and make it clear that Texas is not a soft target for foreign birth‑tourism firms. Second, they can push Congress to act on matters only Washington can control, such as tighter visa screening, clearer bans on birth‑tourism travel, and stronger federal prosecution of visa fraud. As this battle unfolds, one thing is certain: Texans who care about sovereignty, fair play, and the true meaning of American citizenship will be watching very closely to see whether their leaders match strong words with constitutionally sound action.