Posted on 02/01/2019 9:13:09 PM PST by Kaslin
A series of federal arrests in California last month has brought the issue of what’s known as birth tourism back into the news. In this case, nearly two dozen people were charged for arranging visas and transportation for pregnant women, primarily from China, who came to California for the purpose of giving birth and obtaining a US birth certificate for their babies. They then returned home to China. While technically legal, this seems to fly in the face of what our laws intend. (Daily Mail)
The largest-ever crackdown on ‘birth tourism’ businesses that help Chinese women travel to the United States to deliver ‘anchor babies’ has resulted in twenty arrests.
Three people – Dongyuan Li, 41, Michael Wei Yueh Liu, 53, and Jing Dong, 42, were arrested in Southern California on charges including conspiracy, visa fraud and money laundering.
More than a dozen others, among them Li’s business partner Chao Chen, have also been charged in cases stemming from three so-called birth tourism businesses.
Many of the suspects believed to be currently living in China, and the crackdown marks the first time the United States has criminally prosecuted birth tourism operators, said the U.S. attorney’s office.
This case raises some interesting questions, particularly in terms of what the suspects are being charged with. In almost all cases it’s a charge of fraud. But can they really be convicted? The companies were helping to arrange legal visas and, as the linked report points out, it’s not against the law to visit the United States while pregnant. There is also no law against a non-citizen giving birth on American soil. Clearly, they were telling the women that the purpose of the trip was to give birth and obtain a US birth certificate for their child, so where is the fraud?
The major issue here may be that what they’re doing isn’t against the law… but it should be. And perhaps it’s time to take a fresh look at our laws regarding such questions.
Our current view of “natural born citizens” is clear. Even if the parents moved here – and live here, intending to remain – but are not yet citizens, children born on American soil get a birth certificate and are citizens, fully entitled to all normal rights and privileges, up to and including running for president. But what if the parents had no allegiance or ties to the United States and paid someone to allow the mother to come here and give birth, only to immediately return to their true home with a baby and a US birth certificate in hand?
I’m reminded of a situation described by one of the hosts of a podcast I subscribe to and listen to faithfully. It’s hosted by two gentlemen in Australia, one of whom was expecting the birth of his first child in December with his wife. She was described as being “half American” due to having one American parent, but they’ve lived their entire lives in Australia. As the due date approached he was missing some shows and then calling in to record episodes because he’d suddenly left for Hawaii.
He described in a very matter of fact fashion how they had consulted with her OB-GYN about the last possible date she could fly while very pregnant. The birth went as expected in a Hawaiin hospital, but he later recounted his frustration and annoyance over being “stuck there” for a couple of weeks because it was taking too long to get the birth certificate. Once they obtained it, the couple flew back home to Australia with their new baby and his freshly minted American birth certificate. They intend to remain living in Australia.
In what way is that child an American citizen? The parents owe us no loyalty. They have no roots in America. They don’t intend to live here or contribute to our economy or serve our country in any fashion. But just because the mother hopped on a plane and flew a dozen hours to show up at a Hawaiin hospital, that child is now a US citizen for life? As I said above, that may fit the letter of the law as currently interpreted, but it doesn’t pass the smell test for the spirit of the law.
It shouldn’t take a constitutional amendment to fix this because birthright citizenship isn’t clearly spelled out in the Constitution. It’s interpreted in 8 U.S. Code § 1401. If the will exists in Congress, they could change the text of that law and define who is actually living in the United States and demonstrating an intention to remain here as it applies to handing out US birth certificates. Not that I expect the Democrats to allow that to happen of course, but at least in theory we could do it.
No. It was time to “address it” 25 years ago.
Duh!
The wealthy Chicom and Russian ladies flying in to give birth here are farts in the wetback anchor baby hurricane.
The Chinese think it’s ok to break any rule as long as you don’t get caught.
Actually, it’s CHAIN MIGRATION, that I would like to see ended asap. That is far more harmful and expensive in the short and long run, IMO.
STOP THE ANCHOR BABY SCAM
screw the 14th Amendment
It’s long past time to end the false premise that if a kid is born here that he/she is automatically a citizen.
One or both parents must be a citizen in order to convey citizenship to the child.
If both parents are from mexico then their kid is a mexican citizen. Same goes for honduras, guatamala, etc.
WHY ARE WE ALLOWING CITIZENS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
ENTERING ILLEGALLY
RIGHTS THAT THEIR COUNTRY DENY US HAVING???
It’s time we consider illegal entry by any person who is a non Mexican citizen illegally entering the United States through the US Mexican border a defacto Mexican citizen with limited Mexican constitutional rights subject to their laws while transiting. As well as any Mexican citizen doing so. Subject to reciprocal citizen treatment a citizen of the United States receives in Mexico through the Mexican constitution on citizenship .
Besides being unable to vote one must also be a citizen to own land and Mexico is very restrictive about granting citizenship. Because of that a US citizen besides not being able to vote,and cannot have title in their name to any land property in Mexico. And until that is changed the US and the affected state should consider making that reciprocal.prohibiting citizens of Mexico or countries with similar restrictions from doing both voting and land ownership..
Actually, it’s CHAIN MIGRATION, that I would like to see ended asap. That is far more harmful and expensive in the short and long run, IMO.
But chain migration can occur with the China Birth Tourist scenario...In fact, that is one of the motivations of parents to come here to deliver the baby...
For example...
The mother returns to China after giving birth...
Upon graduating from a secondary education program in China, the 18-year old US/Chinese citizen is able to come back to US and attend college as US a citizen. There are perks to this...for example working on sensitive research.
Then the graduated student is able to take a job here in US as US citizen...no H-1B Visa required...
And then at the age of 21+, this grown up baby who received US citizenship from birth tourism is able to start the migration chain—sponsoring relatives to come here...parents, grandparents, etc...
It is an outrageous travesty of our laws!
One aside...Can you imagine if a birth tourist became an elected representative? judge? or even Vice/ or President?
Where would their allegiances lie?
Chinese mothers having anchor baby American citizens who WILL EVENTUALLY AND MORE EASILY SPY ON AMERICA THEN DISSEMINATE FINDINGS BACK TO THE CHINESE MOTHERLAND.
It's so out of control in my city, it is NOT unusual to see 3 or 4 pregnant Chinese women walking TOGETHER in groups near parks or pathways. NOT JOKING. And they are SMUG and NOT WORRIED about any repercussions for taking part in maternity scams.
“STOP THE ANCHOR BABY SCAM
screw the 14th Amendment”
All PDJT has to do is issue an EO and it’s gone. Birthright citizenship was made up out of whole cloth by the bureaucracy. Nothing to do with the 14th amendment.
These women come here legally...and they leave a few weeks after giving birth and take their children back home to China...while they are here they pay for their hospitals and doctors, hotels, food, transportation etc themselves c...
What about the illegal aliens who also come here to give birth but dont leave again but stay to be a drain on our taxes ??? They don’t pay for anything...the American citizen taxpayers pay for the doctors, hospitals, EBT cards, welfare, food stamps, housing, schoold and upkeep for the anchor babies...
The way to stop all of this is to pass a law which gives American citizenship at birth to only the children of American parents,,,at least one or both of the parents must have been born in the US or be a must have been born in the US to parents here legally or be a naturalized citizen at the time of the child’s birth...
The foreign parents of any child born here must apply to their own country’s consulate for a birth certificate..
Mexican parents have Mexican babies
Chinese parents have Chinese babies
Americans have American babies...
New Zealand stopped this racket years ago...and their main problem was women from the Cook Islands and Fiji...Now only New Zealand parents get a New Zealand birth certificate for their babies..
and Nancy Pelosi didn’t scream “Immoral !!!” or keel over dead because of their new law...
In the late 1600s my French ancestors living here in NY for 10 years couldn’t own land until they swore allegiance to the British crown and received their Letters of Denization which gave hem all rights and treatment as if they had been born in England..
IOW they had to become naturalized American citizens to own land...
Perfect . I hope he does it
Unilaterally
“...children born on American soil get a birth certificate and are citizens, fully entitled to all normal rights and privileges, up to and including running for president...”
Nope.
That child would only be native-born, not natural born, precluding there right show called to be a president of the United States
XIV doesn’t and shouldn’t apply to them
Is it anything like Obama and his Hawaiian BC ?
There is at least one more birth tourism scam - “Fertility Clinics.”
Wealthy couples, especially from lesser developed countries, claim they can’t conceive, fly to the USA, conceive the old fashion way (after paying the clinic), then they get special extended medical visas because the pregnancy might be high risk.
Nine months later, they apply for new visas or Green Cards because they want their citizen baby to grow up in America!
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