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Chinese birth tourism booms in Southern California<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2013/03/15/chinese-birth-tourism-booms-in-southern-california/">http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2013/03/15/chinese-birth-tourism-booms-in-southern-california/</a>
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Any child born on U.S. soil is granted citizenship. Hundreds of
expecting moms from Mexico have been crossing the border into
Arizona to deliver their babies for years as a result. Now, a
growing number of pregnant Chinese women are flying to the U.S. to
secure their child that prized U.S. birth certificate, and Southern
California has become a hot bed of what’s called “birth tourism.”<br>
<br>
<p>This week <a target="_top"
href="http://ktla.com/2013/03/13/exclusive-local-motel-converted-into-makeshift-maternity-hospital/#axzz2NSwGPypT">KTLA-TV</a>
reported on a motel in Arcadia where expectant women from China
are checking in to give birth. Every three to four months a new
group arrives. The hotel provides guests with a full-time nursing
staff, meals and a nursery. The women are typically <a
target="_top"
href="http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/07/17225891-born-in-the-usa-birth-tourists-get-instant-us-citizenship-for-their-newborns?lite">wealthy</a>
and pay a China-based agency about $25K in fees for travel,
medical, visa and other related expenses.</p>
<p>After giving birth and receiving their newborn’s U.S. birth
certificates and passports, the women and their babies fly back to
China. As U.S. citizens the children can return when they’re older
to attend school and take advantage of other benefits that go
along with citizenship. Some women are also making the trip as a
way to get around China’s one-child policy because the restriction
doesn’t apply to those who deliver out of the country.</p>
<p>While hotel employees are denying that they’re running a “baby
factory,” Arcadia Asst. City Manager Jason Kruckeberg told KTLA
that the city is aware of the hotel’s underground operation. Even
though some locals disapprove of the situation, Kruckeberg says
the city has no power to stop it because nothing illegal is
happening. Equipped with tourism or business visas, these women
aren’t violating federal immigration laws.</p>
<p>Last month, the media covered a similar situation in Chino Hills
where a residential home was transformed into a maternity hotel
for women traveling from China. Some neighbors were so outraged by
the the activity generated by the operation that they <a
target="_top"
href="http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/07/17225891-born-in-the-usa-birth-tourists-get-instant-us-citizenship-for-their-newborns?lite">picketed</a>
outside the home.</p>
<p>Chino Hills resident Rossana Mitchell told <a target="_top"
href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57566313/maternity-tourism-how-chinese-couples-buy-u.s-citizenship-for-their-babies/">CBS</a>:
“When people think of the American dream, they’re not thinking
about birth tourism. They’re thinking about people who come here,
immigrate here, work hard, pay their taxes, become citizens and
become Americans.”</p>
<p>Authorities eventually shuttered the maternity hotel due to
zoning issues, according to <a target="_top"
href="http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/07/17225891-born-in-the-usa-birth-tourists-get-instant-us-citizenship-for-their-newborns?lite">NBC</a>.</p>
<p>The United States is one of many countries in the world where a
child automatically receives citizenship at birth. “The U.S. law
dates back to the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment of the Constitution,
ratified after the Civil War to ensure that all freed slaves and
their children would be American citizens,” according to <a
target="_top"
href="http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/07/17225891-born-in-the-usa-birth-tourists-get-instant-us-citizenship-for-their-newborns?lite">NBC</a>.</p>
<p>Some lawmakers want to see an end to the practice. Representative
Phil Gingrey (R-Ga) thinks the 14th Amendment should be
reinterpreted so only children with at least one American parent
receive citizenship. Earlier this year he introduced a legislation
aimed at ending birth tourism.</p>
<p>But just how big is the birth tourism problem and is a new law
really necessary?</p>
<p>NBC reports:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The most recent statistics from the National Center for Health
Statistics show that births of babies on American soil to
foreign mothers increased from 5,009 births in 2000 to 7,462
births in 2008. This is a tiny percentage of the more than four
million babies born in America each year. There is no tracking
system in place to record which countries the mothers are from
or why they are in the United States.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Angela Kelley, the vice president of immigration policy and
advocacy for the Center for American Progress, isn’t convinced
that the birth tourism issue is big enough to warrant a
reinterpretation of the Constitution.</p>
<p>“I don’t see this type of legislation having any traction, or
being taken seriously,” Kelley told NBC. “I think something as
really fundamental and integral to this nation’s character: that
you’re born here, you belong here, that we’re not a country club
that you apply to– that would be met with enormous resistance from
all sorts of quarters…from left and from the right.”</p>
<p><em>How do you think our country should deal with birth tourism?</em></p>
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