The Trump administration is coming out with new visa restrictions aimed at restricting “birth tourism,” in which women travel to the U.S. to give birth so their children can have a coveted U.S. passport.
The State Department planned to publicize the rules Thursday, according to two officials with knowledge of the plans who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The rules would make it more difficult for pregnant women to travel on tourist visas. In one draft of the regulations, they would have to clear an additional hurdle before obtaining the visas — convincing a consular officer that they have another legitimate reason to come to the U.S.
The Trump administration has been restricting all forms of immigration, but the president has been particularly plagued by the issue of birthright citizenship — anyone born in the U.S. is considered a citizen, under the Constitution. He has railed against the practice and threatened to end it, but scholars and members of his administration have said it’s not so easy to do.
Regulating tourist visas for pregnant women is one way to get at the issue, but it raises questions about how officers would determine whether a woman is pregnant to begin with, and whether a woman could get turned away by border officers who suspect she may be just by looking at her.
Consular officers right now aren’t told to ask during visa interviews whether a woman is pregnant or intends to become so. But they would have to determine whether a visa applicant would be coming to the U.S. primarily to give birth.
Birth tourism is a lucrative business in both the U.S. and abroad. American companies take out advertisements and charge up to $80,000 to facilitate the practice, offering hotel rooms and medical care. Many of the women travel from Russia and China to give birth in the U.S. The U.S. has been cracking down on the practice since before Trump took office.
Although there are scattered cases of authorities arresting operators of birth tourism agencies for visa fraud or tax evasion, coming to the U.S. to give birth is fundamentally legal. And women are often honest about their intentions when applying for visas and even show signed contracts with doctors and hospitals.
There are no figures on how many foreign women travel to the U.S. specifically to give birth. The Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for stricter immigration laws, estimated that in 2012, about 36,000 foreign-born women gave birth in the U.S., then left the country.
The draft rule is “intended to address the national security and law enforcement risks associated with birth tourism, including criminal activity associated with the birth tourism industry,” a State Department spokesperson said.
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ITS ABOUT TIME. LUB CUSS AMERICA AND ALL THEY WANT TO DO IS EXPLOIT HER RESOURCES.
LONG LIVE THE USA
My friend, the USA is in big, big trouble these days. Right now the President of that country is on trial. He’s already been impeached “forever” by the House of Representatives. The old guy will soon be gone…either by the trial, the ballot box, or he’ll pull a “Tricky Dick” (Nixon) and just resign in disgrace. What will you do then?
The only reason why many of our caribbean leaders and those we call honorable are not facing a similar fate is because of corruption and their efforts to manipulate the system. So wheel and come again!
NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY AND NATIONAL POLICIES
From this news story, today, this can be viewed from the perspective of ‘…one’s Nationality.’
The one obvious trait of this President, is that he not only appeared ‘…hell-bent in shattering life-long dreams for many,’ but also seems ‘…adept in exploiting the emotions of apparent bigots’ who seem opposed to;
(a) …The free movement of people;
(b) …The acquisition of a foreign nationality;’ and
(c) …Interracial and international harmony.’
But then, that was part of the mandate give to him by the American electorate to, ‘…Make America Great Again’ [Slogan for Presidents Ronald Reagan: 1980: Bill Clinton: 1992: and Donald Trump: 2016].
National Security has always been a priority for all nations, particularly to keep out undesirables and those with ‘…harmful or destructive and destabilizing intent,’ calculatedly indoctrinated and reinforced by ideologies, foreign to its national interests.
This has to be made sufficiently clear.
Therefore, none may deny a nation’s ‘…Sovereignty’ and the right to determine who may gain entry at its borders, for whatever reasons, ‘…legitimate or illegitimate.’
Though clearly not considered a racist, the Mighty Sparrow Sings;
‘…The white man preaching democracy; …But in truth and in fact; …It is hypocrisy’ [Social commentary: Martin Luther King]. He may have been indirectly speaking to the ‘…Colour of the skin.’
He should have intervened and save the ‘…Two White Women’ who went to the ‘…Wilds of Africa’ and he stood ‘…peeping through the bush’ watching their demise [Song: Congo Man: You Tube].
Guess he was afraid that he too may have been ‘…captured; …cooked; or eaten raw’ as well.
Now in terms of ‘…Greatness,’ it is not necessarily the ‘…Slogan’ though.
It is the ‘…Action.’
But with the ‘…Mood in the Middle East’ and certain nations in ‘…Latin America and the Caribbean,’ still not sure if such ‘…Action’ would bring ‘…Greatness’ to the ‘…American people.’
Do know that it would ‘…frustrate regional people and a handful of leaders in CARICOM’ and by extension, the ‘…OECS.’
They may have gone to meet with ‘…Mike Pompeo’ in Jamaica.
This appears ‘…discriminatory against pregnant women.’
Know that this ‘…Duncy’ one might ask ‘…Rock Head’ if the same applies to ‘…a man who got married to another man.’
This would be ‘…real dunciness,’ since ‘…neither one could be impregnated.’
Trump is the absolute best president in the world. Keep looking out for the Caucasians. This is what the black leaders should emulate.
THE BEST MEL? NA-A-AH – WAR OVER PEACE
Can say without contradiction that he is a ‘…Pragmatic Leader.’
Always says what he means, and does what he says.’
Only thing he has never been fully given fully his own way.
Might be declaring war on someone; …something; or …some nation everyday.
These leaders are often called ‘…Warmongers.’
They are not only ‘unpredictable,’ but have chosen ‘…War over Peace.’
If he did, sure like hell, under ‘…Homeland Security,’ in seeking to protect that nation’s borders,
a man-made canal may have been built and ‘…infested with crocodiles to keep out Latin Americans.’
These crocodiles may have had a ‘…daily feast on human flesh.’
I agree with banning pregnant women from entering any country other then their own. Why should other countries be responsible for helping some random lady give birth in their country? Some countries are truly dumb but at least Trump is right on this issue.
This reminds me of how thousands of Jamaican and Haitian women give birth in Antigua so that their kids have our passport/citizenship. Crazy and dumb that we allow it.
Antiguans always speak like they don’t travel to other people’s country… Smh. Like Antigua is a land flowing with milk and honey. Smh
@Choops, Yes like those Antiguan woman who love run to America so their children can have an American Passport or to marry an American man..not out of love but to get American citizenship then divorce them right?
This happens with the Antiguan man too. It happens all over the world with other countries as well but hey.. it’s pointing fingers time..so what did you expect?
The Antiguan government should take a page out of President Trump’s Administration.
Ban all these low-life foreign women from coming to this country to drop their heavy loads/burdens (babies), and bring in their diseases.
Many of these women are parasites, unwanted prostitutes whom men have used and refused from the countless other Caribbean islands they have roam seeking security and stupid sugar-daddies to feed their bastards kids.
Most times they do not even know which of the hundred men they have been with is their children’s father.
Perhaps if we tighten up on our boarder ristrictions we would avoid such mental cases of that stupid La Hamer Guyanese woman, who this government wasted too much of our tax-payers money to find her so-called stolen kids. If she had stayed her diseased ass in her home country and given birth there all this negative publicity against Antigua(ns) would have been avoided.
Oh! And put a band on how many children these foreign women can have when they come here; no more than two. It seems that these foreign women were brought up in cultures where the more baby daddy’s they have the more money they get to spend.
Antigua Government, please put your feet down with these whores, or else our economy will suffer to poverty like the countries these bitches ran away from and half the their children turn out to burdens on society and harden criminals due to lack of love and parental guidance.
Antiguan women also should stop lowering their standards to run to the United States to have their children born there, and take pride in their country. They are running out and the foreign eomen are running in. Some Antiguan women talking about for better opportunities, and half the time these children do not even get any of the so-called opportunities except a Citizenship paper that allow them to work their asses off in the US and pay taxes, and then when they reach of age, file for their parents.
These stupid Antiguan women pay soo much money every year running back and forth on airplanes to go check-in in the US boarders, then catch-up in their relatives homes in hardship, just to say they have a child born in the US. Sadly, some of them return to Antigua after their lavish spending and fight their chidren’s delinquent fathers in court for child-support payments, which could have been avoided if they had saved the hardship if they have not tried to live above their incomes to find plane tickets and spending money to go carry their children back-and-forth to the US to check-in every year. And the worst of it, these Antiguan women then bring back their children to Antigua and bully-rag the Antiguan Government for their children’s Antiguan passports, just to say they have dual citizenship. STOP THE MADNESS!
I fear no negative comments, so bring them on, because the truth hurts.
You use a lot of blanket statements. It must be nice to blindly throw stones.
Woooiiiiiie @Cermle
Their main focus is to prevent “Birth Tourism” in the US, cracking down on companies that cater for Chinese clients especially in California and the Russian baby boom in places like Miami.
The child gets a lifelong right to live, work and collect benefits in the U.S. And when they turn 21 they can sponsor their parents’ application for an American green card.
It is more expensive to deliver a baby in the US than in any other country.(Normal delivery/C Section). varying from state to state but on an average 30K?Insurance companies pay most of that bill as they negotiate with hospitals for lower fees. What about those who dont have insurance?pre arranged package? #bankruptcy
Well black women are three times more likely to die from childbirth complications than white women in the US. racism and the stress it causes can be a leading role in this disparity.
Personally I will die two times before I choose to send my woman to have a child in that country.
Every soul and their beliefs. Jumbie knows who for frighten.
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