Birth Tourism

1049 Words3 Pages

Birth tourism is an upcoming issue in the 21st century’s socio-political climate for the U.S. Birth tourism by definition is when one is born in the United States to immigrant parents, becoming a first generation American citizen by ways of the 14th amendment, section 1. Where are birth tourists coming from and where does birth tourism occur the most in the U.S? What effects does Birth Tourism have on our economy and our resources? In what ways could and should the 14th amendment be revised officially? Would having at least one parent being a citizen put an end to birth tourism? Should citizenship become more of an exclusive privilege? Let us first look at the statistics. The Center for Immigration Studies posts non-partisan, non-profit research …show more content…

An ‘anchor baby’ becomes a citizen, and then goes on to vote in a country in which they have no real stake. It means that our political system gets disrupted. Tax evasion, defrauding the medical system, the list seems to go on. Matt Sheehan of www.huffingtonpost.com, states that “Federal investigations in Los Angeles found that many of the maternity hotels…”, places where agencies (sometimes illegal) set up immigrant mothers in the country, “didn’t pay taxes on millions of dollars in income, and that employees had coached expectant mothers on how to hide their true intentions from visa and immigration officials.” (Sheehan, Matt. Born in the USA) This, in my opinion, is a huge breech of this country’s welfare system, and needs to …show more content…

Constitution, namely the 14th Amendment in particular, can be interpreted for us to enforce stricter regulations on citizenship. If we take a look at Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, the text reads specifically that “any born or naturalized in the United States…. are citizens of the United States…” (Elbel, Fred, 14thamendment.us/amendment: The Amendment). This ensures the rights of anyone born in the U.S. due course of the term ‘Jus Soli’. One thing to note, however, is that the interpretation of section 1 is ambiguous; those born here or naturalized are immediately deemed citizens. These definitions are very broad, and do not distinctly address our 21st century problems. What does it mean to be born here? What does it mean to be naturalized? I find that these terms are meant to define more long-term conventions than what they convey and what legally

Open Document