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The debate over birthright citizenship just got louder. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is back in the news, pointing to its $150.7 billion “net” annual price tag for illegal immigration and U.S.-born children of unauthorized parents. FAIR tied that figure to a high-profile Los Angeles surrogacy prosecution and to President Trump’s new executive orders aimed at “ending birth tourism.” That combination makes this more than a policy paper — it is a live political fight over money, law, and who pays the bill.
FAIR’s $150.7 billion claim: headline number and how they reached it
FAIR’s $150.7 billion figure comes from the group’s own 2023 cost study. They add up estimated program spending for education, health care and nutrition, then subtract what they say unauthorized people pay in taxes. FAIR calls the number conservative. Critics point out the group is an immigration‑restriction advocate and that other researchers use very different methods. Still, numbers this big are hard to ignore when talking about taxpayer budgets and public services.
LA surrogacy case and Trump’s executive orders put the issue in the headlines
The timing is no accident. Los Angeles County prosecutors charged two people in what they called an unprecedented surrogacy and child‑abuse case after dozens of surrogate‑born children were removed from a home. That local scandal is now being used as an example of how commercial surrogacy and birth tourism can be abused. At the same time, President Trump signed two executive orders aimed at stopping birth tourism and protecting citizenship. California’s attorney general called those orders unconscionable, so the fight has gone from the courthouse to the White House and to red states and blue states alike.
How birth tourism and commercial surrogacy work in practice
Birth tourism can mean pregnant tourists booking hotel rooms and hospital stays so their babies get U.S. citizenship at birth. It can also mean wealthy foreigners hiring American gestational surrogates so the child is born on U.S. soil. Estimates vary: official data likely undercount both tourist births and births to undocumented moms. FAIR and other groups say the numbers are large enough to matter. Whatever the exact count, the policies and legal gaps around visas, surrogacy and the 14th Amendment are where the real fights happen.
Policy reality: executive orders help, but Congress must act
Here’s the blunt truth: executive orders can plug some holes, but they cannot rewrite the Constitution. FAIR’s Mateo Forero says the problem goes back to a “misinterpretation” of the 14th Amendment and that only legislation or a constitutional amendment would be a full fix. That may be ambitious, but Congress can act now to tighten rules on visa fraud, commercial surrogacy and benefit eligibility. If taxpayers are stuck covering hundreds of billions, Americans should demand smarter laws — and not just press releases. President Trump’s moves are a start; lawmakers should stop pretending this is someone else’s problem and get to work.
