Foreign nationals are flying to America, having a baby, flying home, and handing that child a U.S. passport – and Ron DeSantis just called it exactly what it is.
The Supreme Court heard Trump's birthright citizenship case Wednesday – and DeSantis made sure everyone knew where he stood.
What DeSantis said next should be on every American's mind before the Court hands down its ruling this summer.
DeSantis on Birthright Citizenship: Birth Tourism Is Making a Mockery of the 14th Amendment
DeSantis made his case at a press conference in The Villages Wednesday, and he didn't mince words.
"That kind of cheapens the process when you make it a tourist thing," he said.
He's right – and the numbers prove it.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2039310423657152556?s=20
Nine percent of all U.S. births in 2023 were to mothers either illegally in the country or here on temporary legal status, according to a new Pew Research study DeSantis cited directly.
That's roughly 350,000 babies a year – more than the entire population of Tampa – handed American citizenship because their mothers timed a flight correctly.
The birth tourism industry alone adds roughly 33,000 more babies annually to women who flew here specifically on tourist visas for no other purpose, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
Federal prosecutors in 2019 indicted 19 people running maternity houses in Southern California that received more than $3.4 million in international wire transfers over two years – coaching Chinese clients on how to lie to U.S. officials and hide their pregnancies.
DeSantis put the historical argument plainly.
"Coming to America was a big deal in 1865, 1866," he said. "You couldn't just hop on a plane and get here, stay three weeks, and hop on a plane and go back to foreign countries."
The men who wrote the 14th Amendment were trying to fix the monstrous injustice of Dred Scott – to make sure freed slaves were recognized as American citizens.
They were not designing a loophole for birth tourism operators in Shanghai charging $50,000 a package.
Trump at the Supreme Court: Anchor Babies and the Loophole Nobody Closed
Trump himself sat in the courtroom Wednesday – the first sitting president ever to attend Supreme Court oral arguments.
He watched Solicitor General D. John Sauer argue that the 14th Amendment's "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" language requires more than just physical presence on U.S. soil.
Parents must have a permanent home in the country, the administration argued.
That standard would end birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens and those here on temporary visas – the tourist visa baby factories and the birth tourism criminal networks that have turned American citizenship into a $50,000 premium commodity.
Trump left after about an hour, then posted on Truth Social: "We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow 'Birthright' Citizenship!"
https://twitter.com/17QStorm/status/2039381792440881333?s=20
He's not far off – Canada and the United States are the only major developed nations that grant automatic citizenship to children born to non-citizens who are not legal permanent residents.
The Wong Kim Ark Loophole Liberals Hope You Never Look Up
Several justices pressed the administration's lawyer hard Wednesday – Roberts called one aspect of the argument "quirky," and Barrett and Gorsuch asked pointed questions about the historical framework.
Fine.
But here's what the media won't tell you: the landmark 1898 case liberals treat as settled gospel – Wong Kim Ark – involved a man born to Chinese parents who were permanent legal residents of the United States.
Not tourists.
Not illegal aliens.
Legal permanent residents.
The Supreme Court has never ruled on whether children of tourists and illegal aliens are covered by the 14th Amendment.
Not once.
DeSantis put it plainly Wednesday: "I hope we'll get some analysis because they really haven't ever addressed this specific question."
That's the whole ballgame right there.
If the Court upholds Trump's order, it will be the most significant citizenship ruling in over a century – finally closing a loophole that birth tourism operators in Shanghai have been selling for $50,000 a package.
If it strikes it down, the fight moves to Congress.
Either way, a constitutional amendment written to free slaves is now being used to hand passports to foreign nationals who treat American citizenship as a luxury purchase – and the men who bled at Gettysburg didn't die for that.
Sources:
- Liv Caputo, "DeSantis weighs in on SCOTUS birthright citizenship case: 'Cheapens the process,'" Florida Phoenix, April 1, 2026.
- Amy Howe, "Supreme Court appears likely to side against Trump on birthright citizenship," SCOTUSblog, April 1, 2026.
- "Study: 33K Anchor Babies Born via 'Birth Tourism' in U.S. Every Year," Breitbart News, January 22, 2020.
- "Birth Tourism: Facts and Recommendations," Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), January 23, 2020.
- "Birth Tourism," Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
