A video claiming to show a 37-week-pregnant Nigerian woman being stopped from traveling to the United States over suspected birth tourism has gone viral on social media, reigniting debate over birthright citizenship.
The clip was shared on X with the caption:
“UK officer Sarah steps in and stops it.
Babies born in US get automatic citizenship — a massive loophole.
UK babies don’t.
Sarah is a hero.
End birthright citizenship for non-citizens now.
No more anchor babies.
America First.”
In the video, the woman says she is traveling to the United States the following day.
“I’m going to the US tomorrow.”
An immigration officer identified as Sarah then asks, “When you went for your American visa, did you tell the visa officer that you were pregnant?”
The woman replies, “No.”
When asked why she did not disclose her pregnancy during the visa interview, she answers, “It didn’t come up.”
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According to the narration in the clip, the woman says she plans to visit her sister in the United States and return home three weeks before her due date. Her expected delivery date is listed as June 5, while her return flight is booked for May 16.
The video claims that this itinerary would place her at approximately 37 weeks of pregnancy at the time of travel, beyond the limit permitted by most airlines. It also states that while children born in the United Kingdom do not automatically receive British citizenship, children born in the United States generally acquire U.S. citizenship at birth under the country’s birthright citizenship laws.
Although the woman reportedly held a valid U.S. visa, Sarah is shown contacting the U.S. Embassy to verify whether officials were aware of her advanced pregnancy.
“I just wondered if you could give a call to the American embassy so that they can check an American visa for me. She’s at the airport today and she’s in an advanced state of pregnancy, so if you can just give them a call and find out if they’re happy with that, and if so, then we can let her travel.”
Later in the video, Sarah tells the woman, “I’ve contacted the visa man and explained your situation. What he’d like to do is if you… Can you go back to the embassy here in Lagos, show him all this paperwork, and he’ll want to speak to you.”
The clip concludes by claiming that the woman did not appear at the U.S. Embassy in Lagos and that her visa was subsequently canceled. No official statement from U.S. authorities confirming the incident or the reported visa cancellation accompanied the viral post.
Based on the delivery date referenced in the video, the footage appears to have been recorded about a month earlier before resurfacing online, where it has revived the long-running debate over birthright citizenship in the United States.
Under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, nearly everyone born on American soil automatically becomes a U.S. citizen, regardless of their parents’ immigration status, with limited exceptions such as children of foreign diplomats. The policy has long fueled political debate over so-called “birth tourism,” in which foreign nationals are alleged to travel to the United States to give birth so their children can obtain U.S. citizenship.
Although confirmed cases of birth tourism account for only a small fraction of U.S. births, the broader political debate continues to focus on the scope of birthright citizenship.
A Pew Research Center analysis of 2023 birth data found that about 320,000 babies, or roughly 9% of all births in the United States that year, were born to mothers who were either unauthorized immigrants or held temporary legal status. Under current law, those children generally acquire U.S. citizenship at birth, though their parents do not receive any automatic immigration benefit as a result of the child’s citizenship.