Birth Tourism: Your Tax Dollars At Work

Most taxpayers have never heard of the thriving cottage industry of birth tourism. Thousands of foreigners are traveling to the United States under false pretenses each year for the sole purpose of giving birth to a child.

Often these pregnant women enter our country on temporary stays granted by the government. Some obtain student visas. Others arrive as guest workers. Those who can't get some kind of temporary status come as tourists.

Many, but not all, new arrivals receive free health care. But the real prize is something worth a lot more. Under the law, any child born in the United States automatically becomes a citizen. It matters not that the woman is a citizen of another country or that she may have arrived illegally.

No wonder birth tourism is booming. California officials recently shut down a makeshift maternity ward in San Gabriel that was catering to birth tourists from China. For a fee, Chinese women were given a chance to deliver their babies in the U.S. to guarantee citizenship.

When they raided the location, officials found 10 mothers and seven newborns living in three townhouses that had been converted into maternity wards. According to authorities, Southern California has become a hub for the nascent industry.

The Center for Immigration Studies recently released a report showing that nearly 200,000 children were born in the U.S. to temporary foreign visitors. In at least 20 percent of these cases, the women came to the country for the sole purpose of giving birth.

Those statistics only tell half the story. The study also found that another 300,000 children are born to daughters of illegal alien parents each year. The government automatically confers citizenship on those children.

You're excused if you have never heard about these issues. The mainstream media has deliberately suppressed the news because it does not fit with their immigration views. However, a group of congressmen has taken notice.

More than 70 House members have signed on as sponsors of the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 (HR 140), introduced by Republican representative Steve King of Iowa. The bill would require at least one parent to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident for a newborn to receive automatic citizenship.

The proposal makes so much sense that its chances of becoming law are almost nil. Opponents will claim that bill flies in the face of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.

The amendment, ratified by the states in 1868, was originally aimed at providing citizenship to children born of African slaves. Supporters never imagined the law would be abused by foreigners bent on gaining citizenship for their babies.

Proponents of HR140 contend the amendment gives Congress the authority to define birthright citizenship. The United States is one of only two industrialized nations--the other is Canada--to grant birthright citizenship. By the way, Mexico has no such law. Yet Mexican officials support birthright citizenship in the U.S.

If the birthright bill ever becomes law, it likely will land in the laps of the Supreme Court justices. Democrats will no doubt challenge the law on the basis that the 14th Amendment cannot be altered in any way.

Meanwhile, taxpayers must pick up the tab for this foreign exploitation. They are on the hook for health care for the mother and newborn. Once the babies are U.S. citizens, they have the same rights as all Americans, including access to free government medical and welfare programs.

No question these are unintended consequences of the 14th Amendment. Now it is up to Congress to fix the mess. It will require political courage because the Democrats, Latinos and immigration activists will take umbrage.

Unfortunately, political courage is one commodity in short supply in Washington these days.