Trump administration revokes visas for HISTORIC number of noncitizens



The Trump administration has revoked visas for more than a quarter of a million people over violations that included birth tourism and endangering national security.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott called the 250,000+ visa revocations a "historic milestone" in the administration's efforts to protect the American people, Fox News reported Wednesday.

'We will not stop until every foreign national who threatens the safety of our communities is held accountable.'

"Every visa decision is a national security decision. Through continuous vetting on a scale never seen before, we are identifying and removing those who commit crimes, support terrorism, defraud Americans, or abuse our immigration system," Pigott explained.

"A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right — and if you violate the terms of that privilege, you will lose it," he added. "We will not stop until every foreign national who threatens the safety of our communities is held accountable."

The revocations targeted people who violated the terms of their visas and those who committed crimes, including defrauding Americans or calling for violence against America or Americans.

About 2,300 of those involved birth tourism.

About 27 visas were revoked on Monday for officials from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, as well as their families over accusations of corruption.

A report in August indicated that the administration was looking to revoke visas for 200,000 people who had applied for asylum, which would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history.

Pigott said at the time they were investigating false claims of asylum.

"We are coordinating with DHS to identify and revoke the nonimmigrant visas of foreigners who have come to the United States claiming to be short-term visitors, but then file for asylum to stay here permanently," he said.

RELATED: Illegal alien with badge impersonates Border Patrol to disrupt mission, calls in reinforcements

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said in August that Americans were "fed up" with "bogus" requests for asylum.

"Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws; rather, it’s supposed to provide a narrow safe harbor for persons persecuted because of their 'race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion,'" he wrote on social media.

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The Baby-Purchasing Business Continues To Be An Unmitigated Disaster For Everyone Involved

The consequences of our unregulated commercial surrogacy industry continue despite receiving government and media attention.

Chinese Social Media Chatter Indicates Trump’s Birth Tourism Crackdown Is Starting To Work

As long as commercial surrogacy remains available to citizens of adversarial countries, American citizenship can still be acquired through U.S. wombs.

Indian-born billionaire whose hospitals are accused of birth tourism scheme received Biden award



The foundation created and led by Prem Reddy is in a bit of hot water.

Reddy's Prime Healthcare Foundation owns and operates a hospital in Mission, Texas, called Mission Regional Medical Center. On July 7, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to launch an investigation into Mission Regional over allegations that it engaged in a birth tourism scheme.

'Federal prosecutors have been directed to "bring illegal birth tourism to an end" by prosecuting both those who engage in such conduct and those who solicit it.'

Abbott accused Mission Regional of advertising "BIRTH PACKAGES IN SOUTH TEXAS" in foreign countries in "an apparent effort to profit from securing United States citizenship for their children."

"American citizenship is not for sale, and Texas will not permit our health care system to be used as a magnet for birth tourism," stated the governor.

In its subsequent letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission highlighted reports that billboards promoting the alleged scheme were spotted in Mexico. The billboards reportedly referred would-be birth tourists to "havemybabyinTexas.com."

While the website appears to have been taken down, an archived version lists two hospitals as participants in the alleged scheme: Mission Regional and Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco — another Texas-based hospital owned by Reddy's foundation.

RELATED: Justice Department STRIPS citizenship from female migrant who helped run DISTURBING business

Antranik Tavitian/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Karen Ray, chief counsel for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, said in the letter to Paxton, "Such birth tourism schemes not only exploit the extraordinary privilege of American citizenship, but also frequently involve 'lies about the purpose or duration of one’s travel to the United States.'"

"Accordingly, federal prosecutors have been directed to 'bring illegal birth tourism to an end' by prosecuting both those who engage in such conduct and those who solicit it for visa fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, misuse of identification, identity theft, and health care fraud," continued Ray. "While the allegations concerning Mission Regional Medical Center and Knapp Medical Center may not be identical to the schemes described above, they are equally troubling."

The HHSC referred the matter to Paxton, who confirmed on July 29 that he was investigating the two hospitals.

"My office will investigate any suspected illegal birth tourism schemes in Texas, including the operations of two South Texas hospitals that appeared to advertise birth tourism on a billboard near the border," said Paxton. "My office will continue to hold accountable any entity that knowingly facilitates fraud in our state."

Mission Regional chalked up the controversy to a misunderstanding.

A spokesman for the hospital said in a statement to Blaze News, "We recognize that a very limited marketing campaign may have caused unintended misunderstanding and was immediately discontinued. The campaign was meant to highlight services available to the communities we serve and was never intended to encourage any unlawful activity."

The spokesman noted that the hospital's supposedly "very limited campaign consisted of only two billboards located near the hospital and a website that generated very little patient volume, produced no financial benefit to the hospital, and was only intended as a service for the community, which is one of the most medically underserved regions of Texas."

"The hospital does not support or facilitate unlawful activity and has never operated its obstetric program with the intent of attracting individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States, promoting birth tourism, or encouraging travel to the United States for the purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child," said the spokesman.

According to Mission Regional's spokesman, Knapp Medical Center "did not actively participate in this marketing campaign with no involvement since 2024 and only had two elective deliveries of 684 deliveries this year."

Blaze News did not immediately receive a response from Knapp Medical Center or Paxton's office.

On July 21, Abbott issued an executive order tasking relevant state agencies with investigating claims of birth tourism schemes within the Lone Star State's health care industry. His office noted that "enforcement actions include revoking or suspending licenses, prohibiting participation in state contracts, denying state benefits, or pursuing other enforcement action under state law."

The EO references the two Prime Healthcare Foundation hospitals.

The scandal is a bad look for the foundation, as well as for its leadership — particularly for Reddy, its CEO, and Reddy's daughter, Kavitha Bhatia, who serves as president and chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation.

In addition to receiving the Healthcare Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Reddy was presented with the Joseph R. Biden Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024.

Reddy's organization noted at the time that the award, which was part of the President's Volunteer Service Award program and given to certain individuals with a minimum of 4,000 hours of documented volunteer service, "recognizes Dr. Reddy's exceptional commitment and significant and sustained contributions to ensuring that communities have access to quality health care."

Reddy received the award even though he and his organization had in previous years reportedly paid over $100 million to the government as part of three separate federal civil settlements regarding alleged false claims to Medicare.

President and Jill Biden also posed for a photo with Reddy and Bhatia in 2022.

The founder of the scandal-plagued foundation isn't the only one in his family with a tight relationship with Democratic power.

According to Bhatia's bio on the Prime Healthcare website, she is a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee leadership circle for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) and California Rep. Ro Khanna (D).

Reddy and Bhatia were both born in India. Neither responded to Blaze News' request for comment.

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Till green card do us part? DOJ announces bust of one of the largest marriage fraud rings in US history



Chinese nationals and U.S. citizens saying "I do" with their fingers crossed behind their backs, all to exploit the U.S. immigration system? The Department of Justice says it's true.

On Wednesday, the DOJ announced it had busted one of the largest marriage fraud rings in U.S. history — over 1,000 sham marriages arranged to secure green cards for foreign nationals, primarily citizens of the People's Republic of China, run like a business for a decade.

'Anyone willing to lie, cheat, or steal their way to legal immigration status is a direct threat to America's national security.'

The DOJ claims the scheme, which ran from at least 2016 through July 2026, was based in New York City with marriages arranged across the U.S. and as far away as China.

According to the DOJ, three roles kept it running: facilitators who found foreign clients, recruiters who found U.S. citizens, and assistants who filed the paperwork. Officiants, attorneys, tax preparers, and insurance agents were also in the fold — a full-service fraud economy.

Facilitators charged foreign nationals up to $100,000 apiece, paid U.S. citizens up to $30,000 in installments, and paid recruiters commissions of up to $5,000 per referral, the DOJ claimed. The DOJ estimates the alleged network collected tens of millions of dollars.

Couples would often meet for the first time immediately before getting a marriage license, then stage wedding ceremonies and photographs to make the unions look legitimate, the DOJ claimed.

Afterward, participants allegedly manufactured further evidence — staged photos, joint bank and utility accounts, joint tax filings, and insurance policies. They also submitted green card applications with false statements and were coached to mislead immigration officials during green card interviews, the DOJ claimed.

RELATED: Birth tourism is only the beginning

U.S. Department of Justice

Attorney General Todd Blanche said couples even signed prenuptial agreements waiving marital rights — no estate claims, no child support, nothing. One clause allegedly read: "Both parties live independently and must not interfere with each other."

The defendants identified in the DOJ press release are: Amy Cheng, Xiao Mei Chan, Christine Lu, Jing Yan Ye, Xiao Yan Chen, Gang Zheng, Anthony Cheng, Michelle Duenas, Angela Duenas, Sigrid Cetino, and Erika Johnson. They range from 26 to 72 years old and represent nearly every New York City borough as well as Westchester County.

Each defendant was arrested Wednesday and faces up to 15 years combined — five for conspiracy to commit marriage and immigration fraud and 10 for conspiracy to encourage unlawful residence of aliens.

The bust also lands the week after President Trump signed a pair of executive orders targeting birth tourism — part of what officials describe as a broader push against people gaming the immigration system.

RELATED: Trump takes another BIG swing at birthright citizenship and birth tourism

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow said, "Anyone willing to lie, cheat, or steal their way to legal immigration status is a direct threat to America's national security."

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jamie McDonald said the government is now weighing whether to revoke the green cards it already granted through the scheme.

This isn't the first Chinese-linked alleged sham-marriage bust the administration has touted this year. In February, 11 people were charged in Jacksonville, Florida, for allegedly paying Navy sailors up to $35,000 to marry Chinese nationals — and, in some cases, bribing base personnel for military ID cards.

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Trump Can Still Fight Birthplace Citizenship Abuse After SCOTUS Refused To

The Trump administration is doing its best to creatively prevent birthplace citizenship for foreign nationals despite the recent SCOTUS ruling.
Birth Tourism & H-1B Fraud: President Trump's Immigration War Is Ramping UP | 8/7/26
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Birth Tourism & H-1B Fraud: President Trump's Immigration War Is Ramping UP | 8/7/26

Trump Moves To Shut Down Birth Tourism Industry After SCOTUS Affirmed Squatter Citizenship

'Citizenship is not a commodity to be acquired through calculated exploitation and evasion of the immigration laws, such as by entering the United States on a nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth within the Nation’s borders.'

Trump takes another BIG swing at birthright citizenship and birth tourism



President Donald Trump issued two executive orders on Thursday intended to end birth tourism to the U.S. and narrow birthright citizenship.

The president signed the orders with his top aide, Stephen Miller, at his side at the White House in front of reporters.

'What that means is that no one in the world is anymore allowed to obtain a visa for this fraudulent purpose.'

Miller explained that the first order would "expand the definitions of people who were ineligible for birthright citizenship" in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that kept the policy active.

Those who are newly excluded from birthright citizenship include "alien enemies of the United States, members of foreign terrorist organizations, and large categories of people who lobby and act on behalf of foreign governments."

He went on to explain the second order.

"The second action that he's taking, which is especially historic, is for the first time ever in American history to ban birth tourism," Miller said.

"The idea that people come here pretending to be a tourist, pretending to be a visitor, saying they want to go to Disneyland, they want to go visit a monument or go to a national park," he added.

"But the real reason they're here is to have a child, to make that child an automatic citizen," Miller said, "to leave our country, and then have a U.S. citizen child that gives them access under this broken system to welfare benefits, ultimately to the voting booth, and all the other rights and privileges that belong solely to Americans."

Miller touted all of the president's actions to safeguard American citizenship and listed this order as one of the top three decisions.

"So that practice of birth tourism is, as of the signing of this order, hereby banned," he continued. "And what that means is that no one in the world is anymore allowed to obtain a visa for this fraudulent purpose."

Trump also criticized the Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship.

"I thought we were going to win it at the Supreme Court," he said. "Unfortunately we had a bad decision, very unfair decision. Our country suffers because of it. And we’re ending it a different way."

RELATED: Texas AG Paxton sues Chinese 'birth tourism' center for allegedly orchestrating abuse of birthright citizenship

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council immediately criticized the orders.

"This new order is far less sweeping than the original, but like the first order, seemingly violates the Constitution," he said on social media.

"As an initial matter, the new EO aims to deny citizenship to children born to two noncitizen parents where ONE parent (not both) falls within one of the EO's new categories," he added. "This alone may well be a violation of the 14th Amendment, which cares about the status of both parents."

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After Birthplace Citizenship Ruling, China Won’t Need Hackers To Meddle In US Elections

Who needs fraudulent drivers licenses to vote in elections when birth tourism promises babies born on American soil authentic U.S. IDs?