From Overseas Press

Pregnant Chinese traveling to get US citizenship for babies

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-07-20 15:43

An increasing number of affluent expectant mothers in China are choosing to fly to the United States to give birth with the help of companies that offer "baby tourism" packages, in order to get a US passport and citizenship for their new babies, said an article in the Washington Post on July 18.

The article revealed that although America is experiencing an economic decline while China is prospering, many people in China still consider a US passport a powerful lure, since most believe that the US has better education resources and a fairer competitive environment for their children.

To cater to that demand, more companies, mostly in Shanghai, are helping their affluent clients, who can foot the bill for costly services, to give birth at US baby centers and then get the US citizenship and passport. Companies said that they are doing it legally since "the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1868, says anyone born on US soil has the right to citizenship."

It quoted a US Embassy spokesman in Beijing saying that "it is not a crime to travel to America to give birth so that the child can have US citizenship." He added that US Congress "would call it a loophole."

His assessment was echoed by many US "anti-immigration activists," said the article, and "some argue that the 14th Amendment was never meant to provide an instant passport to the children of people who are in the country illegally or who travel there expressly to gain US citizenship for their child."

The article further pointed out that "the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department have no specific regulations regarding pregnant foreign visitors, which critics see as an issue."