Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington:

At seven months pregnant, I travelled to Florida to do some shopping and visit family for one month. When I reached Immigration, I was told that it was my intention to have the baby in the United States (US) and not shopping as I had explained. I told them how far along I was, presented proof and showed them my return date. I would have been eight months when I was scheduled to leave the US. I was taken out of the line and carried into a room where I was further questioned. Eventually, after looking on my visa history and seeing I had never stayed longer than two months and I travel once a year, they allowed me to leave and gave me my standard six months to stay in the country.

In my third week there, I started experiencing pain, and, upon checking, I was told that there were signs of early labour. I could have the baby as early as the following day, or as long as one month later. For that reason, I was unable to travel. I had the baby and left the same date I was scheduled to depart the US originally.

I did not use any Medicaid. All my visits and hospital fees were paid out of pocket. My question is, will it be a problem for me to re-enter the country? Should I travel with my receipts to show that I did not use any state funds? I need to understand if having the baby there was illegal or is it applying for and using Medicaid etc. that makes it illegal.

Thank you.


Any child born in the United States is a United States citizen. It is not illegal for a visitor or an illegal alien to have a child in the United States. Problems do set in when a non-immigrant has a baby in the United States and the government of the United States pays the cost.

If a visitor shows up at a hospital for emergency treatment, the person will not be turned away. The hospital usually assigns the person a social worker who secures benefits for them. The United States government provides Medicaid - free medical care - to the poor in the US. Your medical records and history are confidential and Medicaid will not disclose them to the Department of Homeland Security without your written approval.

Non-immigrant conditions

As a condition of a non-immigrant status, a person is not to become a public charge on the US. That condition is violated as far as the Department of Homeland Security is concerned when a visitor goes to the US and incurs medical bills that the government and the taxpayers have to reimburse. The US citizen child is entitled to government benefits.

Some people who later find out about the problems associated with having a child in the US at the expense of the US government, later try to repay Medicaid the costs. Medicaid does not have a mechanism to recover fees paid on behalf of an individual, unless the benefits were illegally obtained.

Thankfully, you were in a position to pay all your medical costs for the delivery of your child. You should always travel with the proof that you paid in full for the cost of the delivery, and also take that proof with you when you go back to the US Embassy to renew your visa or to renew your child's American passport.

There have been many horror stories from female visitors who had children in the United States at the expense of the government without knowing that it would interfere with their ability to travel back to the country. If you have an American citizen child and Medicaid paid the cost of the medical bills, you can lose your non-immigrant visa during any subsequent visit to the US and be returned to Jamaica on the next available flight. Additionally, when renewing your non-immigrant visa, there is a question on the application form that asks whether you have certain relatives in the United States. You must answer the form truthfully, and it is in so doing that it is revealed that a child was born in the United States. You cannot deny the existence of, your child because, in the future, that same child may want to petition for you.

Please make sure that your child always has a valid United States passport to enable travel back and forth between Jamaica and the United States. In the future, please make sure that you receive approval from your doctor in Jamaica before traveling in your last trimester of pregnancy.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq. is a Jamaican-American attorney who practices law in Florida in the areas of immigration, family, corporate & personal injury law. She is a mediator, arbitrator and special magistrate in Broward County, Florida. Email info@walkerhuntington.com or editor@gleanerjm.com

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