Los Angeles/The governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, issued an executive order on Tuesday instructing state agencies to investigate and sanction illegal practices that promote “birth tourism,” through which pregnant women travel to the United States to give birth and for their children to obtain citizenship.
The measure also mandates holding accountable any licensed health care provider who facilitates such practices.
“Texas will not tolerate the abuse of our immigration laws by people who travel to the United States illegally or under false pretenses to give birth and obtain citizenship for their children,” Governor Abbott declared at a community meeting.
The measure also mandates holding accountable any licensed health care provider who facilitates such practices.
The governor, who has supported US President Donald Trump’s tough immigration policy, noted that US citizenship is not for sale, and Texas will “put an end” to the practices of those seeking to profit from birth tourism.
The executive order directs at least five Texas health departments and agencies to investigate complaints about birth tourism practices within the state and take punitive action, including revoking or suspending licenses, prohibiting participation in state contracts, denying state benefits, among other legal actions.
Additionally, it orders Texas agencies to collaborate with federal authorities to combat this practice.
The order comes after the governor instructed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to begin an immediate investigation into Texas hospitals that were advertising birth tourism packages in Mexico. Abbott has dedicated part of the state budget to help control undocumented immigration.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) arrested more than 43,000 foreigners in June, the highest number under the Trump Administration, a mark that is on track to be surpassed in July, if the pace of daily arrests is maintained.
Last month, ICE detained 39,563 people and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested 3,575 foreigners for a total of 43,138 detainees in the custody of immigration authorities, the highest number in fiscal year 2026, which began last October.
The record of arrests, revealed in an ICE report this Monday, responds to the new goals imposed by the White House, which seeks to increase the numbers of deportations to fulfill the promise made by Trump in the presidential campaign.
Arrests in July continue the trend of last month, with a daily average of 1,593 foreigners taken into custody by ICE and CBP agents
Arrests in July follow the trend of last month, with a daily average of 1,593 foreigners taken into custody by ICE and CBP agents, according to data through July 11, when 16,213 arrests were recorded.
If the average number of arrests continues in the month of July, the number of arrests would approach 50,000 immigrants arrested in a month.
However, the agents would still be far from achieving the 2,000 daily arrests that the White House has set as a goal, according to three knowledgeable officials cited by The New York Times.
One of the sources, who requested anonymity, told the newspaper that it was not clear how long that pace could be maintained.
The operations have increased again in large cities, but have unleashed a wave of protests, after the death of two immigrants shot by the agents: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican, who died on July 7 in Houston (Texas), while the Colombian Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, 26, died six days later in Biddeford, Maine.
A third immigrant, a Mexican who had arrived in the country with a visa, died on July 14 after being hit by a truck on a Florida highway, while fleeing from an immigration operation.
