"Maternity Tourism": How Chinese couples buy U.S. citizenship for their babies

(CBS News) CHINO HILLS, Calif. - Any child born in the United States is automatically an American citizen. Mexican mothers have, for years, crossed the border to give birth here for that reason.

Maternity tourism in America has also caught on now with mothers in China.

Ada Lin, a young Chinese girl whose parents traveled to America so she could be born an American citizen

/ CBS News

Ada Lin is 4 months old and the only American citizen in her family. Her parents, who agreed to speak with CBS News if they could remain anonymous, traveled from China to Los Angeles, so Ada could be born in America and claim U.S. citizenship.

"I want her to live a happy life" her father said.

The family is back in China now. They are among thousands of Chinese who have become so called "birth tourists" staying in maternity hotels near Los Angeles. These hotels are often single-family homes in quiet neighborhoods.

At least two are in Chino Hills, California, where residents are annoyed by the frequent comings and goings.

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Chino Hills resident Rossana Mitchell said: "When people think of the American dream, they're not thinking about birth tourism. They're thinking about people who come here, immigrate here, work hard, pay their taxes, become citizens and become Americans."

Ada Lin's family paid $27,000 to a Chinese agency with a website that advertises the advantages of giving birth in America. The agency helps arrange U.S. tourist visas, lodging, and medical care.

The practice does not violate federal immigration laws, but it gives Chinese parents the option down the road to have their American-born children attend U.S. universities, or live here.

The Lins said having Ada in the United States allowed them to get around China's "one child" policy. It restricts most women from giving birth to more than one child in China. The Lins say that restriction does not apply to Chinese that give birth overseas.

One hilltop home was converted into a maternity hotel with 17 bedrooms. It is said to have housed as many as 30 pregnant Chinese women at a time. It apparently didn't break immigration laws, but local officials closed it down because it violated zoning and building codes.

[gwenboyer1]

Underground China reports that babies are aborted at 7 1/2 Months. They are literally run over by cars driven by government officers and murdered if the people have more than 1 child. The Chinese government is ignorant to the rest of the world. Most of the world is dying from everything from AIDS to Starvation. 1 in 3 Whites will be off the planet in the next 10 years. 1 in 2 Black men will be dead, and Europe will be enslaved as a part of their austerity deals. China, which has the ability to fill the Earth with its people, will no longer be in this advantage as a result of its policies. .

[Jbelkin800]

Anyone opposed to this is either dumb or racist. You do not get any SSI govt benefits unless you are an actual resident of a state and qualify - citizenship is another matter. Do YOU randomly collect a payout in your bank account as a citizen? Besides, what's wrong with RICH & SMART int'l people being a citizen, we should encourage that - rich & smart beats dumb and US born anyday - besides what makes an American is the willingness to make money, that's the ultimate criteria, isn't it? And when the parents are here, they are spening plenty of money here in the US and probably giving you a job ... so if people want to come to the US and stay a few months and drop $60k, isn't that a good thing? And 17 years later, their smart & rich kid comes back to pay FULL TUITION since citizenship and residency are two different things ... are smarter and more college educated citizens better? Unless you are an idiot or a racist.

[tilyc]

You are so right!!

[duzmafuzt]

Humans. We are pathetic, and with all our technology we cannot admit that we are already at population sustainability stateside and worldwide. We must get poetic, use commonsense understanding, and change laws and education allowing this kind of lunacy. Alas, The great education we all need will not supplant our ability to screw over the next guy, to create our own higher standard of living that comes at the expense of all.

[MelJM]

Cute baby, though. Would be interesting to know why the Chinese government is allowing this loophole in the one-child policy. I haven't decided if the U.S. should allow it or not, but--understanding that China is not our friend--I see a caution flag in having a child raised by the Chinese government then being able to walk right in to the U.S. as a citizen and yet be completely loyal to China.

These parents...what do they want? Do they want to raise their child then have it take off for the U.S. and stay here? Is the potential money for the parents a part of the motivation? I knew a youngster from Shanghai working as a waitress and going to school in the U.S. Her mother seemed to have her life all planned, and the girl would say things like "I think I must do what my parents want me to do." She rejected the idea that her life belonged to her and not to her parents. (BTW, I don't think the girl was a U.S. citizen.)

[WillyStein]

"I see a caution flag in having a child raised by the Chinese government then being able

to walk right in to the U.S. as a citizen and yet be completely loyal to China."


YES, it would be really TERRIBLE to have a MILLION or more citizens here with COMPLETE

loyalty to another country!!!

Now, imagine if the United States gave that *other* country
$8.5 MILLIONS DOLLARS PER DAY in military aid in order for them to brutally dominate,

denigrate, and murder a portion of citizens in that *other* country.

Wow...that would be awful too.

Now, imagine that only a small portion of people in the United States is particularly

enraged or actively trying to stop this atrocity.

Yeah, you know, like the masses just walking around in a daze like it's not happening and

the million or more people directly supporting this insanity just keep tooting their own

horns, defending their *rights* and spreading disinformation through all the media avenues

that they just happen to own.

Imagine these same people with their fierce loyalty to *another* country completely

controlling the media, running the economic system, managing huge corporations and even

bullying us and dictating what we are allowed to say (or not)

....Imagine that every time anyone mentioned how awful this atrocity is, that you are

quickly and thoughtlessly DISMISSESD as somehow being racist against this minority group,

despite all the glaring facts.

Crazy, huh?

Yeah, that could could never happen.

[VegasResident]

I am sure it must break some laws since the parents are LYING about the visa and requesting TOURIST visas. This alone should allow the Feds to raid the house and send them home for fraud on their visa application.

[VegasResident]

First, this is an archaic practice that needs to stop.
Second, all male children should be tracked and AUTOMATICALLY registered for selective service when their 18th birthday passes and what the heck, they should be the first drafted i it is ever needed.

[VegasResident]

It is time to stop anchor babies. US citizenship shouls only go to children of US citizens. This is rediculous.

[CBSDebbie]

Anchor babies. If this is legal then leave the baby in the US and send the parents back home.

[Sandeana]

No, the Chinese baby should be sent back home with it's parents, & not be allowed American citizenhip at all. We have enough Orientals in America.

[Lyndia2]

This practice should be stopped immediately. This country has enough problems with them crossing the border and doing the same thing.

[EXE60]

Birthright citizenship, which is having citizenship because you happened to be born in a country, is archaic. Of developed countries, only Canada and the US still have it. All of the countries of Europe require at least one parent to be a citizen of that country in order to get citizenship. Birthright citizenship was once practical when large numbers of immigrants came to settle and stay in the US, but when it is being abused, maybe it is time to make a change.

[Jbelkin800]

Did you college educated grandparents have $60k to pay to enter the US to give birth to your parents? You're right, the old standards were too lax - look at the uneducated clod you turned out to be ... you're probably the same sort of person who moves to a new place and insist it now be gated and growth regulated because there are too many damn people who want to move you're at ...