Birth tourism adds up to 26,000 in 'citizenship for sale' scam: Report

by Paul Bedard, Washington Secrets Columnist | | August 12, 2020 08:48 AM

Thousands of babies are born annually to foreign mothers who travel to the United States as part of a “birth tourism” scam to get their children automatic American citizenship, and eventually citizenship for themselves, according to a new report.

While difficult to calculate exactly, the Center for Immigration Studies estimated that 20,000-26,000 “birthright” citizen children are born in the U.S. each year.

Either on their own or through “birth tourism” companies that can charge up to $100,000 per mother, the goal is to give birth in the U.S., which guarantees all newborns American citizenship.

And that can lead to citizenship for the parents and other family members through the process dubbed “chain migration,” read the report titled Stopping the Practice of Citizenship for Sale.

“As American citizens, birth tourism babies go on to possess one of the world's most powerful passports, are eligible for federal education scholarships, and are guaranteed access to the U.S. job market. After turning 21, they are eligible to sponsor their foreign parents to become American citizens through chain migration. Through birth tourism, any foreigner with enough resources to travel to the United States can deliver an American baby. This is nothing more than citizenship for sale,” read the report.

Babies born under the “birth tourism” banner are just a drop in the bucket of the nearly 300,000 born to illegal immigrants, as of 2014. But they are part of the administration’s overall target to curb the practice that costs taxpayers billions of dollars in services and healthcare.

While the Trump administration has addressed the issue by halting the tourist visas to pregnant women, CIS said more needs to be done, possibly including requiring pregnancy tests to women suspected of being pregnant before entering the U.S.

“Birth tourism undermines the value of American citizenship; the government can enact several concrete measures to mitigate this abusive practice. Revising the nature of birthright citizenship is a complex constitutional issue that could take years to implement. In the meantime, pursuing clear shorter-term objectives to directly address birth tourism offers a more pragmatic approach to curtailing the phenomenon of citizenship for sale,” read the report.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/w...le-scam-report

This fraud is a violation of our Federal Immigration and Visa Laws and those birth certificates need to be revoked and FLAGGED that they are not U.S. Citizens!