Maternity Tourism Abuses American Citizenship

The laws in America dictate that any child born on their turf automatically is a citizen. While this seems like the most logical thing to do, it has also led to an industry called “maternity tourism.”

This industry is made up of women who arrive in the country pregnant and leave with American babies, as well as the medical professionals who support them. This has created problems for officials and they recently closed a house operating as a birthing centre full of Chinese women.

• Businesses in China, Mexico and South Korea advertise packages that arrange for doctors, insurance and postpartum care. And the Marmara, a Turkish-owned hotel on the Upper East Side in New York City, has advertised monthlong “baby stays” that come with a stroller.

But most of the time it is only individuals involved and authorities are only now learning about the groups behind the industry.

The key in this particular case (and most others) is that most of the people did nothing against the law. The women had valid tourist visas and didn’t overstay. The medical professionals didn’t break any laws. The women were well taken care of and were living in clean conditions. One room even had a jacuzzi, walk-in closet, and fridge. The worst they could charge anyone with was building code violations for knocking down walls in an apartment block.

I definitely understand where these women are coming from and don’t begrudge them the chance to better the lives of their children. They might be abusing the system, but they aren’t doing anything illegal and they are using the opportunities available to them.

These kids will have access to American education without paying international fees, can move to America whenever they want to, and can sponsor their parents to immigrate. America may be facing a recession and hard times right now, but it’s still the land of plenty and most mothers living in less developed countries would want these opportunities. Even I lament that I’m not American on occasion. No work visas required, no international student fees – it seems pretty good.

This maternity industry is all part of a larger debate about citizenship rights. But Angela Kelley, VP for immigration policy and advocacy at the Center for American Progress, says “I think it deserves a lot more study and a lot more attention. But to say that you want to change the Constitution because of this feels like killing a fly with an Uzi.”

So long as these women aren’t being abused, and they clearly aren’t, I’m not too concerned. As Kelley says, if we are only hearing of this now it’s probably not a big enough problem to worry much about. But only time will tell what American officials make of this and how they decide to tackle it.

Contact the author here: mack@morningquickie.com