Shohei Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko, recently welcomed their second child—another “anchor baby”—bringing their family size above the U.S. replacement-level fertility rate of 1.6 children per woman. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Ohtani to a contract that runs through 2033. Despite nearly a decade playing in Los Angeles (six seasons with the Angels and three with the Dodgers), he has yet to speak a word of English publicly. His primary allegiance appears to remain with Japan.
Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images
If Mamiko maintains her current fertility pace over the seven remaining years of her husband’s contract, she could deliver three or four more children with U.S. citizenship. Ohtani is just one of roughly 265 international players—about 25% of Major League Baseball rosters. The minor leagues are even more heavily foreign-born, with around 40% of players on non-immigrant P-1 visas. Few details are known about their personal lives. Once teams release them, their movements often become untraceable. Many form relationships in the U.S. that result in children, thereby securing an “anchor” that helps keep the father and child in America. Ohtani has not publicly revealed his chilrens’ names but a generous cornucopia of affirmative benefits await them. Bankruptcy is around the corner for Social Security in 2032 and Medicare in 2036 but those looming dates do not stop the anchor baby tidal wave.
The Supreme Court precedent upholding birthright citizenship remains a demographic challenge for the United States. However, practical enforcement measures can and should be implemented to deter birth tourism. These steps are especially urgent to guard against the possibility of another open-border administration in 2028.
First, border enforcement must remain robust. Illegal crossings have already dropped to historic lows, and the border must stay secure. Second, airport and port-of-entry scrutiny needs to increase significantly. Pregnant women who are clearly traveling for the purpose of giving birth should be denied entry and returned to their country of origin. Once word spreads—particularly in China—that entry is being consistently denied, the flow of birth tourism will diminish. Visa holders must be reminded that a visa guarantees only the right to seek entry, not automatic admission.
In April, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched a nationwide Birth Tourism Initiative aimed at combating commercial schemes that bring pregnant foreign nationals to the United States to secure citizenship for their children. An internal ICE directive dated April 10, 2026, stated that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) would target fraudulent activity tied to the practice: “HSI is advancing efforts to protect the integrity of U.S. immigration and identification systems, specifically targeting fraudulent activities associated with birth tourism schemes.” This initiative, while welcome, is long overdue.
To demonstrate its seriousness, HSI’s 25 nationwide offices should conduct coordinated, simultaneous raids on known birth tourism hotels. Agents should demand to inspect patrons’ visas. Visa fraud is a federal felony, punishable by heavy fines and potentially lengthy prison terms. Mothers-to-be who are healthy enough to travel should be promptly deported. In cases where pregnancies are too advanced for safe travel, women should be allowed to deliver in federal custody and returned home as soon as they receive medical clearance. Because facilitators are unlikely to refund the exorbitant five-figure fees already paid, participants would lose tens of thousands of dollars.
Foreign-born women facing the combined prospects of federal detention, giving birth in custody, ignominious deportation, a ten-year bar on re-entry, and the loss of substantial sums will likely conclude that the price of an anchor baby is simply too high.
Joe Guzzardi is a Society for American Baseball Research historian whose columns have been nationally syndicated for more than 30 years. Contact him at guzzjoe@yahoo.com
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