Monday, October 31, 2011

Birth Tourism (Anchor babies): Facts not fiction, there is no issue here......


Less than 2% of births in Arizona were to non resident mothers, most right over the border. that is the issue of birth tourism, about 1500 babies.  but the US Congress is actually considering clarifying the 14th amendment to prevent "birth tourism babies" to be citizens.  Which is probably unconstitutional anyway.  There are moms who come from China, and Turkery (the two most popular destinations) to give birth: they are usually 5 months pregnant or so, not showing much (INS may prevent pregnant women from entering country) and they pay up front about $50,000 to stay at a birth center and have their baby (doctor included).  then they fly home with their baby.  the objective, is to have a baby who is a US citizen, so the baby can come and go to the US someday at will.  The objective is not necessarily for the mom to somehow stay here.  Basically, they purchase US citizenship for their baby, and then take the baby back home.  Given the crappy US economy, i'd say this is a great product we can sell, at about $50,000 a pop.  The idea of Mexican moms, wading across the Rio Grande, with their 8 month old belly swelling, murmuring over and over in the hot Sonora desert, "must get to Tucson, have baby, get on welfare, get free college tuition......" isnt true.  Mostly, its affluent women who pay a lot of cash to have their baby here, and then leave. 
But yeah, some women do cross over the Arizona border, have their baby, in order to have a better life.  Wait.....isnt that what my ancestors did?  Immigrate to chicago to have kids and a better life?  What is so Un american about that?  
And dont forget, if an illegal alien gives birth in US, she wants to report it, so the baby has a birth certificate that proves the baby was born in US and therefore a citizen.  so if thats true, where are all these so called anchor babies?  Answer: anchor babies are so small a % of births, its silly to even consider it an issue.  
Birth tourism is real, but there is little proof the practice is widespread, even in border states such as Arizona, where last year less than 2 percent of babies were born to non-resident mothers.
In 2008, slightly more than 7,400 children were born in the U.S. to non-citizens who said they lived outside the country, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The figure was the most recent available. The number includes children born to women studying at U.S. universities, international visitors as well as so-called birth tourists.
It does not include a much larger number of children born to undocumented parents residing in the U.S., which supporters of limiting birthright citizenship also point to as a problem. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 350,000 children with at least one undocumented parent residing in the U.S. were born in the U.S. in 2009. That is about 8 percent of all births that year.
By comparison, birth tourism is a much smaller issue.
Although up nearly 50 percent since 2000, the 7,462 children are still just a tiny fraction of the 4,255,156 babies born in the U.S. that year.
"I feel a little like they are chasing the Loch Ness monster," said Angela Maria Kelley, vice president for immigration policy and advocacy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal-leaning research group in Washington, D.C.
Statistics murky
Arizona does not keep statistics on births to non-U.S. residents, but in 2010, 1,534 children were born to mothers who did not live in Arizona. That is less than 2 percent of the 88,100 total births at all hospitals in Arizona. The number includes children born to women who were residents of other states, such as California and New Mexico, as well as children born to mothers who are from Mexico or other countries.
Most of the births to non-state residents occur at hospitals close to the border, which some suggest is evidence of birth tourists.
And nearly half of all the non-resident births occurred at three hospitals: Yuma Regional Medical Center, with 283; Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital in Nogales, with 277; and the Tucson Medical Center, with 188.

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