A chairman overseeing a House task force has indicated that businesses aiding foreign nationals in traveling to the United States for the purpose of giving birth, thereby securing U.S. citizenship for their offspring, might be engaging in criminal conspiracy.
"Right now, under current law, birth tourism is illegal. You cannot come into the United States for the purpose of giving birth," explained the chairman, Gill.
He further elaborated, "And I believe that there's a compelling legal case to be made that these businesses that are facilitating this process -- facilitating somebody coming into the United States to give birth -- lying on their immigration forms or on their visa forms -- are engaging in a form of criminal conspiracy, and that's what we're going to get to the bottom of."
Existing State Department regulations forbid foreign nationals from obtaining visitor visas if consular officials determine their primary objective is to travel to the U.S. solely to give birth and secure American citizenship for their child.
Heightened Scrutiny Following Texas Billboard Controversy
While Gill's task force has been discreetly examining several companies since at least 2025, national attention on the issue significantly escalated in July after images circulated of a billboard. This advertisement promoted the Women’s Center at Mission Regional Medical Center in Mission, Texas, a location very close to Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
The Spanish-language billboard publicized a now-defunct website, "Have My Baby In Texas," and quoted Mission Regional's prices: $3,950 for births and $5,525 for Caesarean Sections. It also featured a phone number that included "001," the international dialing code for calls to the U.S.
In the wake of this controversy, Gill and other officials have issued responses, and the State of Texas has initiated its own investigation into the hospital.
"I think it's astounding," Gill commented. His task force is actively investigating multiple similar operations, including one situated in Miami, and has requested records from that business along with three others across the country.
Abuse of the Immigration System and Calls for Legislative Action
Gill characterized birth tourism as an "obvious and clear abuse" of the U.S. immigration system, as well as of the generosity of the American populace and national institutions.
"We are the ones who often end up picking up the tab for a lot of these services," he asserted, arguing that birthright citizenship, established by the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, was originally intended for former slaves and their descendants.
"It had nothing to do with hordes of illegal aliens crossing our southern border and giving birth in America and using those babies to anchor illegal aliens into our country. And for all of America's history, we've always had a very clear understanding that there are certain people who are born within America's boundaries, within America borders, who are not American citizens, the children of an invading army."
He mentioned a proposal that would codify former President Donald Trump’s executive order, which designated the issue of illegal immigration as an "invasion." This proposal would reference the 1898 Wong Kim Ark Supreme Court case, which included an exception for citizenship for individuals not "bound to render obedience to the sovereign (U.S. government) whose domains are being invaded."
Gill stated he had heard about this bill but had not fully reviewed it, though he deemed it a "phenomenal" course of action.
"I think that that is the type of legal clarification that could help us out quite a bit in the long run," he remarked.
"Remember that the goal is to make sure that our children's birthright isn't being taken away from us because foreigners are coming in and having babies in our country and then buying up our homes and taking American jobs and using welfare that the American people are paying for."
Gill identified the broader illegal immigration situation, including birth tourism, as the most significant concern of the 2024 election cycle.
"In this case; seeing people cross the border so that their children can be anchored into the United States. That is such an obvious abuse of the American People economically, socially, culturally. It's a huge risk to America's national defense."
Hospital Defends Actions Amidst Controversy
A spokesperson for Mission Regional Medical Center provided a statement regarding the billboard campaign: "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 and Mission Regional Medical Center remains committed to serving the Rio Grande Valley with integrity, compassion, transparency, and full compliance with all applicable laws."
The spokesperson added that the billboard campaign generated minimal patient volume and no financial benefit for a community characterized by a high rate of uninsured patients and limited access to maternity care.
"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," the spokesperson clarified.
Citing a separate directive from Austin, the spokesperson noted that 99% of all emergency and inpatient patients who participated in a state-mandated survey were legal U.S. residents or citizens.
Legislative Path Forward
In May, Representative James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the broader Oversight Committee, declared, "Birth tourism should never be big business in the United States. This tactic exploits U.S. immigration law, and those who willfully misrepresent their intentions to temporarily come to the U.S. are breaking the law."
In a concurring opinion to the Supreme Court’s June 30 decision that nullified an executive order by former President Trump concerning birthright citizenship, Justice Brett Kavanaugh indicated that Congress retains the authority to address the issue through legislation. Gill, along with Representatives Banks and other legislators, have affirmed their intention to pursue this legislative avenue as they aim to impose restrictions on birthright citizenship.
