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 Post subject: Is Birthright Citizenship a National Security Problem?
PostPosted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:04 am 
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Contact: Jessica Vaughan, jmv@cis.org, (508) 346-3380
Birthright Citizenship for the Children of Visitors

A National Security Problem in the Making?

WASHINGTON (March 15, 2011) – A new report by the Center for Immigration Studies examines the issue of the U.S. policy to grant citizenship to the children of temporary visitors.

Entitled “Birthright Citizenship for the Children of Visitors: A National Security Problem in the Making?,” the Backgrounder includes original estimates on the number of annual births to temporary visitors, whether birth tourists, students, guestworkers, or Mexican citizens with border-crossing privileges. The report suggests that this policy is a national security vulnerability and discusses how U.S.-born, but raised-abroad terrorists can (and have) used their citizenship against us.

Key findings:
• Nearly 200,000 children are estimated to have been born to women lawfully admitted as temporary visitors from all over the world in 2009. By comparison, according to other studies, more than 300,000 children are born each year to illegal aliens.
• Short-term visitors, including women who come as birth tourists expressly for the purpose of having a U.S.-citizen child, account for about 20 percent of these births (39,000). While most foreign tourists stay for two weeks or less, according to DHS statistics a large number of people who are admitted as tourists stay for periods of three months or more, including an estimated 780,000 women of child-bearing age.
• Another 20,000 annual births are estimated to young foreign women who are admitted as short-term residents, such as students, guestworkers, exchange visitors, investors, and other categories that allow for multiple years of U.S. residence.
• The cohort that accounts for the largest number of births to foreign visitors is Mexican women who hold Border Crossing Cards (BCCs). An estimated 130,000 births are estimated from this group of women, who have virtually unrestricted access to U.S. cities and towns in the southwest border region. Because the identities of BCC holders are not checked upon entry and the exits are not tracked, the cards frequently are used fraudulently by imposters seeking illegal entry.

Any discussion of the issue of birthright citizenship for the children of foreign visitors must consider the national security implications, including the cases of Anwar al Awlaki, the U.S.-born cleric now residing in Yemen, and Yaser Esam Hamdi, the U.S.-born enemy combatant captured in fighting in Afghanistan and released from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia in 2004. Both Al Awlaki and Hamdi were born in the United States to parents admitted as temporary residents on non-immigrant visas and were raised, and radicalized, abroad.
# # #

The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research institute which examines the impact of immigration on the United States


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 Post subject: Re: Is Birthright Citizenship a National Security Problem?
PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 7:43 pm 
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Joined: Sat May 08, 2010 2:34 pm
Posts: 125
(TWO LINKS)

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/25/bi ... latestnews

Birthing Centers for Chinese Women Looking to Have American Babies Uncovered in California
Authorities in California are investigating a crop of illegally converted maternity centers for Chinese women who come to the U.S. to give birth to American citizens, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The unlicensed birthing centers were recently discovered on a quiet residential neighborhood in San Gabriel, less than 10 miles from Los Angeles, according to the newspaper.

Code enforcement officials on March 8 reportedly shut down the three adjoining two-story condominiums that they say were converted into maternity wards. Ten mothers and seven newborns were reportedly found inside the buildings, the newspaper reports.

On Thursday, a state lawmaker blasted the illegal maternity wards and said the finding underscores the need for immigration law changes, Reuters reports.

California state Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a Republican, called the discovery an abuse of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to any baby born in the U.S. -- with few exceptions.

"You wind up with these extreme situations where people will go to any length to get U.S. citizenship," Donnelly told Reuters.

Click here to read more on the Chinese birthing centers from the Los Angeles Times
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 6974.story

'Birthing tourism' center in San Gabriel shut down
Pregnant women came from China to three identical townhouses to receive care before and after giving birth to U.S. citizens at local hospitals.

From the outside, they looked like other recently built San Gabriel townhouses — two stories, Spanish style, with roofs of red tile.

Inside they were maternity centers for Chinese women willing to pay handsomely to travel here to give birth to American citizens.

Southern California has become a hub of so-called birthing tourism. Operators of such centers tend to try to blend in, attracting as little attention as possible.

But on quiet, residential Palm Avenue, neighbors had noticed an unusual number of pregnant women going in and out, and some complained about noise.

On March 8, code enforcement officials shut down three identical four-bedroom townhouses functioning as an unlicensed birthing center.

The homes, officials said, had been converted into maternity centers. Inside, they found about 10 mothers and seven newborns.

"The people were sitting and eating at a table. All the babies were in bassinets with a nurse attending to them," said Jennifer Davis, San Gabriel's director of community development.

The city fined the manager of the property, Dwight Chang of Arcadia, $800. He was cited for illegal construction and ordered to acquire permits and return the buildings to their original condition.

"They had moved walls around without proper permits. They did interior work that can sometimes create unsafe environments afterwards," Davis said. "And it's a business in a residential neighborhood. They are not permitted to operate there."

The Chinese mothers have since left the U.S. or moved into hotels, officials said. On Wednesday, construction work in the houses was underway. The doors were open, and visible inside was the detritus of a hasty departure — boxes of diapers, a baby-bottle sterilizer, a rice cooker, an electric kettle, bags of chopsticks and piles of Chinese-language magazines.

The garage of one of the buildings appeared to have been converted into an extra bedroom.

"It felt like something wasn't right in there," said Taylor Alderson, who was shocked to hear what had been going on next door. "There was a constant barrage of pregnant women going in and out of the house."

She said she rarely heard babies cry. But she was annoyed by the stream of traffic from visitors delivering baby products and the strong smell of "cheap canola oil" being used to stir fry vegetables.

"It's just too much to take in," Alderson said. "They count on people here being busy and keeping to themselves. In a more affluent neighborhood, they wouldn't' be able to get away with it."

An elderly neighbor who has lived on the block for 54 years said she did not want her name used because she feared retaliation. But she said one of the pregnant women once asked her where the local park was and if she could use her kitchen.

"She was unhappy with the food and the accommodation. They told her she had to eat what they cooked for her. I took her out to dinner," the woman said. "She even talked me into taking her to the hospital. She was having labor pains five minutes apart. Almost had the baby in my car."

The birthing centers are a twist on similar centers in China in which women recuperate for a month after delivery, following a strict diet and traditional rules meant to ensure their future health.

American centers offer these services as well — but the focus here is on giving birth. The actual deliveries take place in local hospitals. At birthing centers such as the one closed in San Gabriel, mothers get room and board and care before and after delivery.

It is not illegal for pregnant women to travel to the U.S. to give birth. Birthing centers advertise in wealthier Chinese cities, where some women can afford the thousands necessary to make the trip to America for a few months.

Most of the women go back to China after giving birth. But they know their children can return easily in the future to enjoy such benefits as free public education.

That bothers some of those living near the San Gabriel center.

"If they lived here, I don't mind," said Duke Trinh, who lives a few houses down. "If they are running a business, I don't want them here. It's not fair for us if [the mothers] go back to China and later send their kids here for education — because they don't pay taxes, we do."

chingching.ni@latimes.com
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times


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