TOUR OF THE SHEIKH ZAYED GRAND MOSQUE

After departing the meeting with Emirati women leaders, the delegation will travel to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque for a private cultural tour. With more than 80 marble domes on a roof-line held aloft by 1000 pillars and punctuated by four 107m-high minarets, the mosque is considered a masterpiece of modern Islamic architecture and design and is one of few in the region open to non-Muslims.

Participants:

• 
  Ivanka Trump,
  Advisor to the President
• 
  John
  Rakolta, Jr., United States Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates
• 
  Kelley Currie,
  Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues
• 
  Geoffrey Okamoto,
  Treasury Acting Assistant Secretary for International Finance and Development

Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Birth Tourism Visa Regulation Rule Change

Beginning January 24, 2020, the State Department will no longer issue temporary visitor (B-1/B-2) visas to aliens seeking to enter the United States for “birth tourism” – the practice of traveling to the United States to secure automatic and permanent American citizenship for their children by giving birth on American soil.  This rule change is necessary to enhance public safety, national security, and the integrity of our immigration system.  The birth tourism industry threatens to overburden valuable hospital resources and is rife with criminal activity, as reflected in Federal prosecutions. Closing this glaring immigration loophole will combat these endemic abuses and ultimately protect the United States from the national security risks created by this practice.  It will also defend American taxpayers from having their hard-earned dollars siphoned away to finance the direct and downstream costs associated with birth tourism.  The integrity of American citizenship must be protected.

President Donald J. Trump Is Taking Action to End Birth Tourism, Protect National Security, and Curb the Abuse of Public Resources

“Together, we will create an immigration system to make America safer, and stronger, and greater than ever before.” – President Donald J. Trump

COMBATTING BIRTH TOURISM:  President Donald J. Trump is taking action to combat birth tourism.

• The Administration is taking action to end “birth tourism” – a practice in which aliens travel to the United States with the purpose of giving birth to gain citizenship for their children.
  • Organizations bring in large numbers of aliens to systematically exploit this loophole and unfairly provide citizenship for their children.
  • Most birth tourism groups charge tens of thousands of dollars, which often doesn’t include coverage for medical care.
  • Groups are flown to the United States and often brought to motels, whose owners are also often complicit in the scheme.
• The State Department will stop issuing temporary visitor visas to applicants who are traveling to the United States to engage in birth tourism.
• The Administration’s new rule makes clear that attempting to improperly provide citizenship for one’s child through birth tourism is not a legitimate grounds for obtaining a visitor visa.
  • Visas will still be issued to aliens whose purpose of travel is consistent with permissible business and pleasure activities.
• Citizenship is the crown jewel of the American immigration system and must be vigorously protected from exploitation.

PROTECTING NATIONAL SECURITY: The Administration’s action addresses the national security and law enforcement risks associated with birth tourism.

• Birth tourism could allow foreign governments to exploit birth tourism in manners that threaten the security of the United States.
• Foreign governments could exploit this vulnerability to recruit individuals who were born as the result of birth tourism and raised overseas, without attachment to the United States.
• Through birth tourism, foreign nationals are able to have their children avoid the scrutiny and procedures they would normally undergo if they became citizens through naturalization.
• Organized criminal networks have taken advantage of the birth tourism loophole at the expense of American citizens.  
  • Businesses in the birth tourism industry have engaged in widespread immigration fraud and money laundering.

PRESERVING OUR PUBLIC RESOURCES: Addressing birth tourism continues President Trump’s efforts to safeguard our Nation’s public benefits from abuse.

• The Administration’s action will protect our social welfare system from abuse by foreign nationals using our welfare system to pay for the births of their children.
• Last year, the Administration took action to ensure that if aliens want to enter or remain in the United States, they must support themselves and not rely on public benefits.  
• The President issued a proclamation suspending the entry of aliens who financially burden the American healthcare system. 
• The Administration proposed a rule to require the verification of immigration status for anyone seeking to access public housing benefits.