Lawmakers probe birth tourism schemes

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(The Center Square) — Lawmakers probed birth tourism schemes that have emerged throughout the country Tuesday as part of broader investigations into the efforts of foreign mothers seeking United States citizenship for their children.

The U.S. House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses held a hearing on Tuesday to discuss ongoing litigation against companies accused of enticing foreign women to give birth to children in the U.S.

The task force excused Wladimir Lorentz, founder and chief medical officer of Miami Medical Concierge Services, after he pleaded the Fifth Amendment right to protect against self-incrimination several times during the hearing. The company, also known as “Have My Baby in Miami,” is under federal investigation for enticing foreign women to give birth to children in the U.S.

The Migration Policy Institute estimates as many as 26,000 babies are born in the U.S. each year through birth tourism. The research institute analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau to determine that figure.

Steven Camarota, Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies, said that a surge of companies operating birth tourism schemes are in the U.S. He said most companies are enticing women to pay large amounts of money so their children can be born in the country and achieve citizenship.

Camarota said American taxpayers could be on the hook for many birth tourism schemes because hospitals do not foot the bill.

“The taxpayer is often getting stuck with the bill based on anecdotal evidence, but I don't know that we have any systematic evidence,” Camarota said.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., called on lawmakers to thoroughly investigate the flow of taxpayer dollars toward birth tourism schemes. He said Medicaid payments could be going to fund the operation of birth tourism centers across the country.

“We're trying to prevent Medicaid payments to people that aren't citizens at the very least,” Comer said. “They’re advertising people to come over here, the hospitals get them signed up on Medicaid and it’s paid for.”

Camarota said the goal of birth tourism is to allow the child to obtain citizenship and return to the U.S. as an adult in order to sponsor their parents for citizenship. He said most foreign mothers do not stay in the U.S. after giving birth.

“The goal is to return home with their citizen child,” Camarota said. “That child then can come back to the United States as an adult, that child when they reach adulthood could sponsor the parents for green cards.”

Democrats on the committee grilled Camarota and dismissed claims of widespread birth tourism in the country. Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., said the Trump administration’s deportation policy is more concerning than birth tourism schemes across the country.

“We are talking about an action that is already illegal and is exceedingly rare, while we ignore the violations of constitutional rights that take place on a daily basis in every community across this country,” Walkinshaw said.

The investigations surrounding birth tourism have ramped up after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled President Donald Trump’s executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. The court’s majority said the 14th Amendment, which was designed to confer citizenship rights to formerly enslaved African Americans, also extends to children born in the U.S. to immigrant parents.

The 14th Amendment reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject ot the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Republican lawmakers have said the inclusion of "subject to jurisdiction thereof" would exclude immigrants seeking citizenship in the country. 

“While current law contains no such restriction, Congress could pass a law defining what it means to be born in the United States ‘and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,’ excluding prospectively from birthright citizenship individuals born in the U.S. to illegal aliens,” U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said. 

Rep. Dave Min, D-Calif., pointed to the high court’s ruling and slammed the Trump administration for its order seeking to overturn the legal precedent. He cited his lineage as a birthright citizen for his defense of the 14th Amendment.

“I and my colleagues here will continue to fight as long as we're members of Congress to ensure that every American is ensured the due process and fair representation that the 14th Amendment also guarantees,” Min said.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said birth tourism is not rare and has disproportionately affected his home state of Arizona, which shares portions of the U.S.-Mexico border. He said hospitals in his community of Yuma were filled with foreign women giving birth, leaving other women without necessary care.

“When local moms came in to deliver their baby, they had to go to Phoenix or San Diego four hours away,” Biggs said. “If it was an emergency, we even had a cardiac instance where they had to air evac[uate] people to Phoenix and San Diego, not because of the acuteness of the case, but because there was no place to treat them.”

Tuesday's hearing continues the lawmaker's probe into birth tourism operations throughout the U.S. while federal investigations operate at the same time.