Chinese Moms dropping babies in the USA

[Danno 1,228]

Born In The U.S.A.? Some Chinese Plan It That Way

http://www.npr.org/2010/11/22/131513165/born-in-the-u-s-a-some-chinese-plan-it-that-way

Like any responsible pregnant woman, Chen Lei (not her real name) wants the best for her unborn child. She and her husband live in Shanghai; both work for a foreign IT company, and they have more choices than their parents' generation could even dream of.

So Chen, 30, is one of an increasing number of mainland Chinese women who are taking advantage of a loophole in American law to travel to the United States to give birth.

"Most Chinese women who go to the U.S. to give birth do so for their child's future, for the education, and for the work possibilities. And that's true for me, too," says Chen, who is cautious and does not to want to reveal her identity.

"We just want to give him more choices in life," Chen adds.

Her unborn child — a boy — will have more choices than most Chinese babies. In a few weeks' time, she will board a plane for Los Angeles, where she plans to give birth in an American hospital.

According to the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, anyone born on U.S. soil has the right to U.S. citizenship.

Originally ratified in 1868 to guarantee citizenship rights to freed black slaves, the amendment has been controversial more recently in the American public political debate because of poor, illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America coming to the U.S. and giving birth. An estimated 340,000 of the 4.3 million babies born in the United States in 2008 were the children of undocumented immigrants, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center.

There is another group of people arriving in the United States to have children. But this group comes legally, often in first-class airline seats: mainland China's upper class.

A whole host of middlemen have sprung up in China to facilitate the booming trade, foremost of whom is Robert Zhou, a Taiwanese businessman.

For roughly $15,000, his company can arrange the hospital in Los Angeles, the doctor, the house and car rental, and any number of other extras for wealthy Chinese parents-to-be.

"What I'm trying to do is to help Chinese mothers to realize their American dream, at a fair and reasonable price. We're not encouraging pregnant women to go and get a U.S. visa. We say that if you already have a U.S. visa, and you're pregnant, you can take the opportunity to give birth in the U.S. So yes, it is a gray area in U.S. law," Zhou says.

Anti-immigration activists in the U.S. say the 14th Amendment was never meant to be applied this way. The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department have no specific regulations regarding pregnant foreign visitors like Chen.

Zhou insists his clients obtain U.S. visas themselves before they even approach him. He says they are paying for everything themselves, and not being a burden on U.S. taxpayers.

Even though there are many opportunities in China, Zhou says, there's no doubt access to a free U.S. public school education, and reduced college costs that come with being an American citizen, are worth the investment. Children who go back to China with their parents can later return to live with relatives already in America, establishing residency and taking advantage of state-supported schools.

"For lots of Chinese people now, $15,000 is very affordable. And it's still at least four times more expensive for a foreign student to study at an American university than it is for an American student. With a U.S. passport, there are no barriers for study or for work," Zhou says.

America's Allure Different For Parents

Zhou has helped as many as 600 mothers give birth in the U.S. in the past five years. Some are doing so to skirt China's strict one-child law, which doesn't apply if a child is born to Chinese parents outside China.

When they've gotten a taste of American life, Zhou says some people do want to emigrate. But the majority of parents, like Chen, don't want to move to America themselves at all.

"We work in IT, and for people like us, it's better to stay here in China. We have a great quality of life here, so there's no reason for us to move," she says.

There is one other advantage of giving birth in the U.S., Chen says.

Last Christmas, she went to a conference in Las Vegas and bought eight pairs of designer shoes, for about $200 each, half the price they cost in China. She is going to Vegas again, she says, to do some serious shopping, before she gives birth in the new year.

[lostinblue 1,989]

Many years ago an immigration lawyer talked about students from china having babies here due to the one child policy at the time in china. According to him due to the fact that china does not recognize dual citizenship in order for the child to stay in china he would have to give up his american citizenship.Become a chinese national. Perhaps a relative could keep the child in the US and it would work out. The mother would be required to depart back to china.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

I first heard of Chinese women doing this in the early 1970's because a naturalized American I knew who was born in China was bringing her relatives in to give birth to American babies. I thought it was disgusting then, and I still do.

[SMR 368]

Many years ago an immigration lawyer talked about students from china having babies here due to the one child policy at the time in china. According to him due to the fact that china does not recognize dual citizenship in order for the child to stay in china he would have to give up his american citizenship.Become a chinese national. Perhaps a relative could keep the child in the US and it would work out. The mother would be required to depart back to china.

There is a huge difference between a country prohibiting dual citizenship and not recognizing it. I'm not familiar with Chinese laws but the same tactic described in the OP is used by wealthy Russians. Neither the Russian Federation nor the US recognizes dual citizenship. If a person has US citizenship and Russian citizenship, the US sees him or her as a US citizen and Russia sees him or her as a Russian citizen. But neither country in any way tracks or prevents its citizens from holding foreign passports and citizenships.

Like I said, I can't comment on China in particular but that which is described in the OP is real, at least with respect to Russians. Considering sophisticated people are paying large sums of money to perform the process described in the OP, I would be inclined to believe that your assessment of the problems associated with this is uninformed and exaggerated (or outdated, as you indicate it was many years ago).

Edited December 10, 2010 by SMR

[Captain Oates 911]

Does this mean the poor little blighter will have to do IRS tax returns for life ?

I suspect these trips are subsidised by turbo tax

Edited December 10, 2010 by Alan the Red

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Many years ago an immigration lawyer talked about students from china having babies here due to the one child policy at the time in china. According to him due to the fact that china does not recognize dual citizenship in order for the child to stay in china he would have to give up his american citizenship.Become a chinese national. Perhaps a relative could keep the child in the US and it would work out. The mother would be required to depart back to china.

That policy is still there.

[lostinblue 1,989]

There is a huge difference between a country prohibiting dual citizenship and not recognizing it. I'm not familiar with Chinese laws but the same tactic described in the OP is used by wealthy Russians. Neither the Russian Federation nor the US recognizes dual citizenship. If a person has US citizenship and Russian citizenship, the US sees him or her as a US citizen and Russia sees him or her as a Russian citizen. But neither country in any way tracks or prevents its citizens from holding foreign passports and citizenships.

Like I said, I can't comment on China in particular but that which is described in the OP is real, at least with respect to Russians. Considering sophisticated people are paying large sums of money to perform the process described in the OP, I would be inclined to believe that your assessment of the problems associated with this is uninformed and exaggerated (or outdated, as you indicate it was many years ago).

Under Chinese law, a foreign national who overstays his or her visa in China is subject to fine and other penalties. Article 3 of The People’s Republic of China Nationality Law does not recognise dual nationality. And Article 4 of The People’s Republic of China Nationality Law states that any person born in China whose parents are both Chinese nationals or one of whose parents is a Chinese national shall have Chinese nationality. This may mean a child born to a Chinese national, regardless of their partner’s nationality, will automatically acquire Chinese citizenship and may experience problems when applying for a Chinese exit visa at some local Public Security Entry and Exit Bureaus because the Chinese government does not recognise their american citizenship

[Pooky 3,825]

If you have a system that's open to abuse, you can guarantee that people will abuse it.

Does this sort of thing count as "business" or "leisure" on the entry visa?

[Captain Oates 911]

Under Chinese law, a foreign national who overstays his or her visa in China is subject to fine and other penalties. Article 3 of The People’s Republic of China Nationality Law does not recognise dual nationality. And Article 4 of The People’s Republic of China Nationality Law states that any person born in China whose parents are both Chinese nationals or one of whose parents is a Chinese national shall have Chinese nationality. This may mean a child born to a Chinese national, regardless of their partner’s nationality, will automatically acquire Chinese citizenship and may experience problems when applying for a Chinese exit visa at some local Public Security Entry and Exit Bureaus because the Chinese government does not recognise their american citizenship

I keep advising people never to go anywhere that requires an exit visa

I mean it because when stuff goes wrong - you ain't leaving

[SMR 368]

Under Chinese law, a foreign national who overstays his or her visa in China is subject to fine and other penalties. Article 3 of The People’s Republic of China Nationality Law does not recognise dual nationality. And Article 4 of The People’s Republic of China Nationality Law states that any person born in China whose parents are both Chinese nationals or one of whose parents is a Chinese national shall have Chinese nationality. This may mean a child born to a Chinese national, regardless of their partner’s nationality, will automatically acquire Chinese citizenship and may experience problems when applying for a Chinese exit visa at some local Public Security Entry and Exit Bureaus because the Chinese government does not recognise their american citizenship

Like I said at the beginning, I am pretty ignorant when it comes to Chinese law. However, nothing you have said indicates that the Chinese government requires someone to formally renounce US (or other foreign) citizenship to have Chinese citizenship. Note that in order for someone to give up US citizenship he or she would have to do so in front of an officer of the US government officially. While there are ethical questions, you can say practically anything you want to the Chinese government and remain an American citizen. Certain things could be construed as treason but that would have to be more than simply swearing allegiance to another government (you would need to materially work against the US).

Now, there are some countries that require you to bring evidence of renouncing your previous citizenship in order to gain citizenship (Ukraine for example, although it practice things may be different presently). However, I have not heard of a country where this affect birthright citizenship.

Moreover, while the US citizenship will not help a Chinese national leave China, you haven't given any reason why it would hurt. Maybe it's difficult for a Chinese national to leave China, but if that is the case, I suspect it is the case whether or not an individual has US citizenship (since, as you stated, the Chinese government does not recognize the American citizenship and pretends that they are the same as any other Chinese person).

Once you leave China, on the other hand, the US citizenship can come in handy. Naturally, it's not a cake walk and you need to know what you are doing (the US government is a pain about taxes, for instance). But it can be done and it has a useful purpose.

Once again, I know almost nothing about how this works in China in specific, but I find it doubtful that people pay $15k to have a baby in the US so it will have citizenship only to renounce it upon return to China. Most people with that kind of expendable cash are smart enough to look before they leap.