From BTN:A New York hotel is staking its claim to have invented a new hospitality niche – birth tourism. The Marmara Manhattan offers “an exclusive package for new mothers that wish to give birth in the USA”, with the additional bonus of the newborn child gaining US citizenship.
The hotel, which is part of the Turkish hospitality chain, exploits the 14th amendment to the US constitution, which states that all children born on American soil “are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside”.
The Marmara Manhattan, which is located in New York’s Upper East Side, told The Times: “What we offer is simply a one-bedroom suite accommodation for $5,100, plus taxes, for a month, with airport transfer, baby cradle and a gift set for the mother.” There are also medical fees of about £20,500.
However the price is a cheap and easy one to pay for US citizenship. Many will eventually use the newborn - known as an “anchor baby” - as a stepping stone for the immigration of extended family.
The hotel has so far sold 15 of the packages.
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the practice is entirely legal as long as the women can pay their medical bills.
However there are noises being made in Washington to close the loophole.
Gary Miller, a Republican congressman, told The Times: “They come to this country and have babies. The children are citizens. The children are eligible to go to school. They receive food stamps and social programmes. The American taxpayers are paying for it."
Key source markets include Hong Kong, South Korea and Turkey, where a number of travel agencies specialise in the birth tourism market.
“Many people say they are doing it because they want their kids to get a cheaper education and not deal with visa issues when they grow up,” said Levant Bas, of the Istanbul-based operator Gurib Tourism. “We have a package that covers everything from the flight and city tours to accommodation for several months and hospital expenses.
12 comments:
Where there is a will there are those who exploit and those willing to pay.
The law should be immediately amended to close the intent of the service and to disallow pregnant visitors, citizens of other countries to give birth here to obtain US citizen. For the foreign visitor who is pregnant, a dis-allowance to ever have her child claim citizenship at a later date should be clearly stated in all visitors visas.
Anonymous said,
"For the foreign visitor who is pregnant, a dis-allowance to ever have her child claim citizenship at a later date should be clearly stated in all visitors visas."
I don't see how a parent can sign away what is a birth right on hehalf of their child.
They can do something about this type of tourism by not granting visas to late term pregnant women though.
It is astonishing that a nation most of whose adult inhabitants would pluck out an eye rather than see their kids flunk high school nonetheless imports millions of high-school dropouts. If having millions of high-school dropouts in our labor force is such a jolly good thing for America, why not generate our own supply? Yes, we can!
What a disgrace.
un
real
USA = united scams of america
I want to see this covered in the Queens weeklies cause boyz n girlz ya know its only a matter of time before this becomes a cottage industry in the boro.
This is legal now and while I don't think pols from Crowley to Bloomberg to Obama would applaud it, they would not dare to criticize it. There is no political will to end this sort of gaming of birthright citizenship.
By the way, these "pregnant visitors" (with a foreign passport, and either not needing a visa, or having a valid limited-term tourist visa) cannot have their baby at Cabrini, Mary Immaculate, St John's, or St Vincent's. The "pregnant visitors" who went through those hospitals have contributed to their closure.
The United States is an "address". Places like Mexico, Nigeria, the Phillipines, and Greece are "home".
Uncle Sap.
Snake Plissken said
"I want to see this covered in the Queens weeklies cause boyz n girlz ya know its only a matter of time before this becomes a cottage industry in the boro."
You'll see this in the Queens Weeklies when the hotels start to advertise. Most of the Queens Weeklies are advertising whores.
change the laws! no more with this anchor crap... boy would we see a change in our overcrowded schools.. and god bless AMERICA!
Tukish? How about we let the flotilla terrorist have babies here too? How about we just import the whole middle east and put a burka over the statue of liberty while we're at it.
Bloomberg is a pussy.
God Bless America minus Bloomberg and the big O
disgusting.
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