Russian 'birth tourists' are flocking to Miami, and Trump condos, to give birth to American citizens

[ck4829]

A growing number of pregnant Russian women have been traveling to Miami to give birth, with the wealthier ones buying birth tourism packages and those of more modest means putting together DIY packages. Giving birth in the U.S., and Miami in particular, is a status symbol in Moscow, NBC News reports, and the big draw is birthright citizenship. All children born in the U.S. are U.S. citizens. "The child gets a lifelong right to live and work and collect benefits in the U.S." NBC News says. "And when they turn 21 they can sponsor their parents' application for an American green card."

President Trump, a critic of birthright citizenship, has been insisting on getting rid of such "chain migration" in immigration talks going on in Washington. But as The Daily Beast reported last year, Trump-branded condos in Miami, especially its Sunny Isles Beach area — dubbed "Little Russia" — are especially popular birth tourism bases for women who can afford the rent. Some Russian birth tourism outfits tout the Trump name in their packages. "There is no indication that Trump or the Trump Organization is profiting directly from birth tourism," NBC News says, though The Daily Beast notes that Trump's company "does benefit from Russian patronage of the nearby Trump International Beach Resort."

Birth tourism is perfectly legal — for now — as long as the birth tourists don't lie on their immigration or insurance forms, and California is a popular destination for Chinese mothers-to-be — as Jeb Bush awkwardly highlighted in 2015. There are no official numbers for how many foreign women come to the U.S. to give birth to U.S. citizens each year, but Florida says the number of births there by all foreign nationals who live outside the U.S. has spiked 200 percent since 2000.

https://theweek.com/speedreads/748344/russian-birth-tourists-are-flocking-miami-trump-condos-give-birth-american-citizens

[DonCoquixote]

1. the bubbas would say

"but they are rich and white!, well the Chinese are almost kinda white, but rivh."

And they will have the measures taken that no mexican would, they will go home to Moscow or Shanghai, and be taught that Americans are prey and cattle, and know that if they deviate they can die back home. But we permit that because they are rich.

[MineralMan]

2. Trump will make an exception for them, see.

They're not "brown" people. They're welcome to be citizens in Trumplandia. Yes, indeed...

[Jake Stern]

3. The talking point is already out apparently

Brought this up to a Trumper acquaintance a little while ago.

His response was that he had no problem with Russian women coming here to have babies because "they come here with visas so they're here legally".

[Sunsky]

4. I know this for a fact

It's all over south Florida, not just Miami and this has been happening for many years. Without divulging my line of work, let's just day I've personally dealt with this.
I've texted two of my colleagues this morning, about Trump's plan to cut birthright citizenship and their first comments were about the Russians. One said, maybe Putin doesn't like his country being overrun by US born citizens.

[Maeve]

5. It's OK if you are RUSSIAN?

Whole new meaning for the acronym

[Tanuki]

6. Would it apply to Chinese investors who paid the Kushner family 6 figures to get visas,

or will their U.S.born babies be exempted?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/06/world/asia/jared-kushner-sister-nicole-meyer-china-investors.html

..."Mr. Kushner’s relatives are working feverishly to solicit overseas money for projects in the United States, and they are highlighting their ties to Mr. Kushner as they court investors.

On Saturday afternoon, Mr. Kushner’s sister Nicole Meyer made a pitch to attract $150 million in financing for a Jersey City housing development, known as One Journal Square, to more than 100 Chinese investors gathered at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Beijing.

The money would be provided through a much-criticized government program known as EB-5 that awards foreign investors a path to citizenship in exchange for investments of at least $500,000 in American development projects.

Speaking in a ballroom, Ms. Meyer said the project “means a lot to me and my entire family.” She mentioned her brother’s service as chief executive of Kushner Companies, the family business from which he resigned in January, saying he had left to serve in the Trump administration."....(more)