“You Win” birth tourism scam stopped, but the damage is done

The proprietor pleaded “guilty” but all of the customers now have citizen children thanks to an outdated policy, that – among all of the industrialized nations – only the U.S. and Canada continue.

The U.S. Department of Justice has the details:

As part of her plea agreement, Li will have to forfeit “several Mercedes-Benz vehicles,” but the clients she coached to lie to the U.S. government will keep the citizenship status of their children, in accordance with U.S. policy.

The United States invites this kind of behavior by continuing a policy that every other industrialized nation other than Canada has abandoned. Citizens of other nations can enter the U.S. on a tourist visa (or cross the border illegally), take a weekend vacation, deliver a baby, and the U.S. government will automatically bestow “birthright citizenship” on the newborn. When the child turns 21, the whole family becomes eligible for green cards.

Chinese listings show several hundred “maternity hotels” in Southern California alone.

In 1898, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of birthright citizenship for children born to legal, permanent immigrants, but has never ruled on whether the 14th amendment applies to the children of illegal aliens or tourists.

These bills would end the practice of granting automatic “birthright citizenship” to children of tourists or aliens in the country illegally

• H.R. 569, Birthright Citizenship Act (by Rep. Babin)
• S. 304, Birthright Citizenship Act (by Sen. Graham)