US Congressional panel to probe birth-tourism businesses over national security concerns

Washington: A US congressional panel will investigate birth-tourism businesses that market maternity services to foreign women, citing national security concerns over travellers from China and Russia and issuing a subpoena to a Florida company executive.

Republican Congressman Brandon Gill of Texas announced on Thursday that the House Oversight Committee task force he chairs will hold a hearing on September 1 titled “Protecting American Citizenship: Confronting Birth Tourism.”

The hearing will examine the prevalence of birth-tourism arrangements in the United States and companies that explicitly market maternity packages to expectant mothers living abroad.

Such arrangements allow foreign women to give birth in the United States, where their children generally acquire American citizenship.

The committee said members would investigate whether companies were exploiting birthright citizenship and taking advantage of the US immigration system. They will also examine what the panel described as threats to national security and American sovereignty.

“Birth tourism should appall every American citizen. It subverts the rule of law, cheapens American citizenship, and undermines our sovereignty as a nation,” Gill said.

The congressman said the industry markets American citizenship to foreign nationals who travel to the United States specifically to give birth.

Gill raised particular concerns about women travelling from countries considered American adversaries, including China and Russia. He said the task force would seek answers from companies profiting from the business and consider possible congressional action.

The committee’s announcement did not provide figures showing how many women arrive annually for that purpose or what proportion comes from China and Russia.

The panel issued a subpoena on Wednesday to Dr Wladimir Lorentz, founder and chief medical officer of Miami Medical Concierge Services, which does business as Have My Baby in Miami.

The subpoena requires Lorentz to testify before the task force at its September 1 hearing in Washington.

The committee had written to Lorentz on May 14 as part of an earlier investigation into businesses that profit from birth tourism.

It requested documents and information concerning the company’s marketing and advertising, service agreements and medical-tourism packages.

A separate letter was sent to Dr Julio César Novoa, medical director and owner of International Maternity Services, seeking similar information about his company’s operations.

Novoa has been invited to testify at the hearing. The committee announcement did not include responses from Lorentz, Novoa or their companies to its allegations and requests.

Dr Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, will also appear as a witness.

The panel said its inquiry would examine both the commercial operations of maternity-service firms and the broader immigration and national security questions raised by birth tourism.

The Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment says that people born or naturalised in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens of the United States and the state in which they reside. It has provided the constitutional foundation for birthright citizenship for more than 150 years.

Birth tourism is not itself a distinct federal criminal offence. US authorities have, however, prosecuted operators and clients in cases involving alleged visa fraud, false statements, tax violations and money laundering connected with commercial maternity schemes.

IANS