Trump crackdown on birth tourism could mean new waves of passport babies in Canada
Credit to Author: Randy Shore| Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2020 03:06:08 +0000
Canada could see an uptick in birth tourism after the Trump administration granted its customs officers more powers to prevent pregnant women from entering the United States.
American consular officials are being urged to refuse entry to women believed to be entering the U.S. in order to gain citizenship for their child by giving birth there.
“The United States has made a very good attempt at finding an administrative solution to a growing problem without having to change their constitution,” said Richmond-Queensborough MLA Jas Johal.
Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, France, Germany and South Africa have all altered their citizenship laws to discourage birth tourism.
“Canada is one of a few countries that grants citizenship automatically to anyone born in this country,” said Johal. “Where are people going to go if they can’t go to the United States? The number-one place is Canada.”
Estimates of the number of babies born to birth tourists in the U.S. each year range from 10,000 by the Centers for Disease Control to 40,000 by the Center for Immigration Studies.
This ads talks about choosing a place in Canada to give birth and recounts the experience of one woman who came to Canada to give birth.
In Canada, the number of births to non-residents has more than doubled since 2012, to just over 4,000 a year. Non-residents account for two per cent of all births in Canada.
Doctors have warned that the number of foreign nationals giving birth in Canada is putting a strain on health care delivery and have urged the federal government to take steps to curb the practice.
“We’re at a crisis, a tipping point, so it’s really important that some higher authority takes this on,” said Dr. Kathleen Ross, president of Doctors of B.C. “Hospitals and doctors have no option but to provide service. We can’t turn people away if they are sick, injured or in labour.”
More than half of all babies born to non-residents in B.C. — around 700 a year — are delivered at Richmond Hospital. In the past two years, 932 babies were born to foreign nationals there, about 22.6 per cent of all births, according to Vancouver Coastal Health. That’s up from 15 per cent in 2015.
Foreign nationals give birth to about 10 per cent of babies born at St. Paul’s Hospital and Mount St. Joseph, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
More than 92 per cent of medical fees are eventually recovered, according to Vancouver Coastal Health.
Richmond is home to a shadowy network of several dozen businesses that help women give birth in Canada for fees in the tens of thousands of dollars.
“Why is it that $80,000 buys you a Canadian passport?” Johal asked. “Nearly one in four children born at some hospitals in Richmond are passport babies, so, it’s not a hospital anymore, it’s a passport mill.”
Ads aimed at women in China who want to give birth in Canada offer luxurious accommodation, a guarantee to get through customs, and birthright citizenship for the child in the “world’s most livable country.”
Here’s a partial translation: “Give Birth in Canada. … Cannot get your visa approved? Can’t manage the documents? Got turned back by immigration officials? Not satisfied by trying it yourself? One stop shop, get all your problems solved.”
Among the other benefits extolled by birth tourism businesses: 12 years of free public education, university fees just 10 per cent of those paid by international students, world-class medical facilities and free health care, and reunification immigration for the parents of child citizens once they turn 18.
Services typically include accommodation near the hospital, meals, transportation to and from the hospital, assistance with travel documents and birth certificate applications, and obstetric care.
“If it was a trickle, I wouldn’t worry about it, but this has been growing year after year and it’s become a significant business,” said Johal.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says birth tourism is not widespread, but the department is taking steps to better understand the practice.
Nonetheless, the federal government last year “invested $51.9 million to protect Canadians, and those seeking to start a new life in Canada … from unscrupulous immigration consultants.”
“This investment will increase investigations and enforcement, expand public awareness and strengthen the oversight of consultants,” the department said in a statement.
— with file from Pamela Fayerman