Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) renewed his push to restrict commercial surrogacy arrangements involving foreign adversaries, arguing that China is exploiting U.S. birthright citizenship through birth tourism.
Scott Targets Chinese Birth Tourism
On Tuesday, Scott said on X that “Communist China is weaponizing birthright citizenship to infiltrate our country” while sharing a clip of his Senate floor speech.
“I just went to the Senate floor to pass my SAFE KIDS Act to stop this dangerous birth tourism scam, and Democrats blocked it!” he said. “Whose side are they on? We need to PROTECT AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP!”
SAFE KIDS Act Targets Foreign Surrogacy
In a Senate speech, Scott said foreign nationals can use U.S. surrogacy arrangements to have children born in America without entering the country themselves.
“American citizenship should not be for sale, and our enemies cannot be allowed to buy it,” he said.
Scott cited the case of Florida surrogate Kyla Simpson, who he said had children for a Chinese national who never arrived to take custody.
He also referenced Chinese businessman Xu Bo, alleging he has fathered between 100 and 300 American children through surrogacy.
Scott’s bill would invalidate commercial surrogacy contracts involving designated foreign adversaries, including China, Iran, Russia and North Korea. It would also establish a misdemeanor penalty for brokers who knowingly facilitate prohibited arrangements.
He sought unanimous consent for the Senate to immediately consider and pass S. 3101, but the effort was unsuccessful.
Birthright Citizenship Debate Intensifies
Earlier this month, the State Department reportedly proposed requiring parents to provide proof of their citizenship or immigration status when applying for their children’s U.S. passports as part of efforts to enforce President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting “birth tourism.”
In July, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) ordered an investigation into a hospital accused of marketing birth packages to foreign nationals, saying birth tourism exploited U.S. citizenship laws.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Supreme Court had reaffirmed birthright citizenship, arguing that people born in the U.S. were American citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: lev radin / Shutterstock.com
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