Feds Raid California ‘maternity Hotels’ For Birth Tourists

RUBY

Well-Known Member
Birth tourism is a legal practice.
Done the right way people come, tell the truth at customs and immigration, and have their babies, pay all their medical and living bills in full and then go home.

Where the Chinese messed up is that they got greedy by not paying the hospital bills and not paying taxes on their earnings. Notice how no arrests were made but sooner or later Uncle Sam will want their tax dollars and that's how all these agencies will get caught.
 

Femmefatal1981

Well-Known Member
I see I got a lot of responses. I’m aware that most immigrants do the anchor baby thing. Wasn’t aware that they have Whole businesses dedicated to housing them and their kids. Family and friends is a different thing.
I guess there are enough family and and friends here to render this an ineffective business model for people from the islands/African nations.
 

Akemi

Well-Known Member
I see I got a lot of responses. I’m aware that most immigrants do the anchor baby thing. Wasn’t aware that they have Whole businesses dedicated to housing them and their kids. Family and friends is a different thing.
Yeah, that’s what I figured you were talking about. The websites, apartments, etc. Turning it into a big business.
 

IslandMummy

Well-Known Member
I see I got a lot of responses. I’m aware that most immigrants do the anchor baby thing. Wasn’t aware that they have Whole businesses dedicated to housing them and their kids. Family and friends is a different thing.
Our businesses (speaking for Jamaica) tend to run on the legal but shady end of the spectrum. So the middle and upper class who can or already have visas go about their business, come here, stay with someone, have baby and go home.

For those less lucky in getting their visas, that’s where Anansi comes in. You get your visa but at a much higher cost in hopes that it pays off in the (kid goes to a college, gets good job and filed for you). That can leave the person stuck once they get here.

@RoundEyedGirl504 A LOT of Jamaicans do this. Not the whole paying an agency thousands of dollars bit. But they go to Canada and the US to have their children for the passport/citizenship. They usually have family or friends to stay with. I find a lot of middle to upper class Jamaicans do this and I was honestly was quite surprised when I discovered that when I moved here.

For me it seemed strange because even rich Bajans tend to have their kids at home, but we also aren’t traditionally big on emigration.
Should have read the thread to save my keystrokes :lachen:all of this. A Bahamian girl I met in college was born here and came a year before school; she started to stay with family friends to qualify for instate tuition.
 
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SweetNic_JA

Well-Known Member
US citizens are required to pay taxes anywhere they are in the world. Correct? For the women who come here to give birth and then raises the child overseas, does the US enforce tax collection from these Citizens who reach adulthood overseas (those who don't migrate back to the USA)?
 

LeftRightRepeat

Well-Known Member
US citizens are required to pay taxes anywhere they are in the world. Correct? For the women who come here to give birth and then raises the child overseas, does the US enforce tax collection from these Citizens who reach adulthood overseas (those who don't migrate back to the USA)?

nope. I'm not sure how they would do that plus any money recouped would probably not be worth the cost of trying to enforce the tax collection.
 

Menina Preta

Well-Known Member
yes they're called anchor babies.

The people I’m talking about are a bit different. Like with my cousin, he was born here but then his mom and dad took him back to the Caribbean where he grew up. His parents are middle class and have good jobs and did not want to immigrate here. Now he’s 18 and came up here for college.

For many it’s so their kid can go to college here without any issues.
 

Menina Preta

Well-Known Member
Birth tourism is a legal practice.
Done the right way people come, tell the truth at customs and immigration, and have their babies, pay all their medical and living bills in full and then go home.

Where the Chinese messed up is that they got greedy by not paying the hospital bills and not paying taxes on their earnings. Notice how no arrests were made but sooner or later Uncle Sam will want their tax dollars and that's how all these agencies will get caught.

Yup. Plus if they don’t pay then the parents may not be granted visas again to visit the US.

Honestly, with all the evil the US has done here and abroad, I am not mad about this practice. What does bother me is the way the news media framed the Russian baby mill versus the Chinese one.
 

PretteePlease

#fakeworkouts
Lol. It has already taken off...folks with means come and have their kids here.

Big in Houston among Nigerians. I have a cousin whose mom did that. She came to stay with our family up here till she gave birth. Lots of Caribbean and African people do this. I don't blame them. Pay back for centuries of imperialism...

I have 5 empty rooms call all the cousins and tell them I got a spot for em
 

FlowerHair

Reclaiming my time
Not surprised. I'd do it. Lol. If I wanted kids, I would have a baby in a few different western countries.....especially for the healthcare..like Canada or one of those 1 year off family leave countries. Lol.

We all know the white Russians is who they want. They already think folks from the Carribbean and countries in Africa do this.
White folks lose their ish over the Asians though because that's who they consider the real competition for their kids. I read the comments on those articles.
Most European countries don’t have that system for citizenship. In Sweden, for instance, you have to have a Swedish parent to become Swedish automatically as a baby.
 

Saravana

Well-Known Member
Birth tourism is a legal practice.
Done the right way people come, tell the truth at customs and immigration, and have their babies, pay all their medical and living bills in full and then go home.

Where the Chinese messed up is that they got greedy by not paying the hospital bills and not paying taxes on their earnings. Notice how no arrests were made but sooner or later Uncle Sam will want their tax dollars and that's how all these agencies will get caught.

That is not correct. First of all, no visas will be given if you say you are coming for the sole purpose of giving birth, unless you have a special kind of high rissk pregnancy and are going to be seen by a special US doctor who handle this type of high risk birth. I had a relative who was able to get a visa for this express purpose.

Birth tourism is not a legal practice in theUS. If it were, the feds would not be raiding maternity hotels.
 

RUBY

Well-Known Member
US citizens are required to pay taxes anywhere they are in the world. Correct? For the women who come here to give birth and then raises the child overseas, does the US enforce tax collection from these Citizens who reach adulthood overseas (those who don't migrate back to the USA)?

Depends on if the US authorities can find you and access your money. There was the famous case of the UK politician Boris Johnson who was born in the US. He recently renounced his US citizenship because the US wanted him to pay taxes to the US on his UK assets even though he already paid UK taxes.
 

RUBY

Well-Known Member
That is not correct. First of all, no visas will be given if you say you are coming for the sole purpose of giving birth, unless you have a special kind of high rissk pregnancy and are going to be seen by a special US doctor who handle this type of high risk birth. I had a relative who was able to get a visa for this express purpose.

Birth tourism is not a legal practice in theUS. If it were, the feds would not be raiding maternity hotels.

Birth tourism is legal. They raided the maternity hotels but they can't arrest anyone unless they broke the law by committing visa fraud, tax fraud, medical fraud, run out on bills etc. If immigration ask you, you are suppose to tell them the truth if you are pregnant and want to give birth in the US. That is not a crime. You are then supposed to show documentation that you have the means to pay for your medical treatment. People go to the US all the time for medical treatment which is allowed as long as you have the means to pay for it.

A B2 visa should cover a person for most things including getting medical treatment.

From the U.S. VISAS U.S. Department of State • Bureau of Consular Affairs website

Pleasure, Tourism, Medical Treatment - Visitor Visas (B-2) If the purpose of the planned travel is recreational in nature, including tourism, visiting friends or relatives, rest, or is related to medical treatment, activities of a fraternal, social, or service nature, or participation by amateurs who will receive no remuneration in musical, sports and similar events or contests, then a visitor visa (B-2) would be the appropriate type of visa for the travel. Persons planning to travel to the United States for a different purpose including students, temporary workers, crew members, or journalists, must apply for a different category of visa. You will find additional information on B-2 requirements on travel.state.gov


From the US Customs & Protection website

Can I visit the U.S. while pregnant and what are the risks involved?
Although there are no specific regulations prohibiting pregnant foreign nationals from entering the U.S., entry is allowed or denied at the discretion of the admitting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer. If the CBP Officer determines that you are likely to become a ward of the government (meaning that the government must provide medical care because you do not have medical coverage), you can be denied entry.

When determining if you will be allowed to enter the U.S., CBP Officers take into consideration the date your child is due for delivery and the length of time you intend to stay in the U.S. In addition, they want evidence that you have sufficient medical insurance to cover any medical necessities while you are in the U.S. and that you intend to return home.

If it is determined that you do not have sufficient medical insurance to cover any unexpected or expected medical care while in the U.S., you can be denied entry. Additionally, if you are pregnant and entering the U.S. at a border port of entry via vehicle, be aware the radiation detection portals deployed at the ports do not emit any radiation, and do not present a hazard to you and your unborn child.
 

yamilee21

Well-Known Member
US citizens are required to pay taxes anywhere they are in the world. Correct? For the women who come here to give birth and then raises the child overseas, does the US enforce tax collection from these Citizens who reach adulthood overseas (those who don't migrate back to the USA)?
Approximately the first $95,000 of foreign income are exempt from federal taxation, and of course, depending on the level of corruption, it can be fairly easy to hide income. So it has to be really worth their while for the IRS to go after citizens abroad. It does happen sometimes though.
 

Saravana

Well-Known Member
Birth tourism is legal. They raided the maternity hotels but they can't arrest anyone unless they broke the law by committing visa fraud, tax fraud, medical fraud, run out on bills etc. If immigration ask you, you are suppose to tell them the truth if you are pregnant and want to give birth in the US. That is not a crime. You are then supposed to show documentation that you have the means to pay for your medical treatment. People go to the US all the time for medical treatment which is allowed as long as you have the means to pay for it.

A B2 visa should cover a person for most things including getting medical treatment.

From the U.S. VISAS U.S. Department of State • Bureau of Consular Affairs website

Pleasure, Tourism, Medical Treatment - Visitor Visas (B-2) If the purpose of the planned travel is recreational in nature, including tourism, visiting friends or relatives, rest, or is related to medical treatment, activities of a fraternal, social, or service nature, or participation by amateurs who will receive no remuneration in musical, sports and similar events or contests, then a visitor visa (B-2) would be the appropriate type of visa for the travel. Persons planning to travel to the United States for a different purpose including students, temporary workers, crew members, or journalists, must apply for a different category of visa. You will find additional information on B-2 requirements on travel.state.gov


From the US Customs & Protection website

Can I visit the U.S. while pregnant and what are the risks involved?
Although there are no specific regulations prohibiting pregnant foreign nationals from entering the U.S., entry is allowed or denied at the discretion of the admitting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer. If the CBP Officer determines that you are likely to become a ward of the government (meaning that the government must provide medical care because you do not have medical coverage), you can be denied entry.

When determining if you will be allowed to enter the U.S., CBP Officers take into consideration the date your child is due for delivery and the length of time you intend to stay in the U.S. In addition, they want evidence that you have sufficient medical insurance to cover any medical necessities while you are in the U.S. and that you intend to return home.

If it is determined that you do not have sufficient medical insurance to cover any unexpected or expected medical care while in the U.S., you can be denied entry. Additionally, if you are pregnant and entering the U.S. at a border port of entry via vehicle, be aware the radiation detection portals deployed at the ports do not emit any radiation, and do not present a hazard to you and your unborn child.

I see what you are saying. It is not illegal for a pregnant woman to come as a tourist to the US, with the possibility of giving birth while she is there, if she has the means to pay for medical care should she happens to give birth. For this reason, one can say that birth tourism is legal.

However, when granting a visa, if the woman says that she is coming to the US for the express purpose of giving birth and giving her child US nationality, she runs the risk of being denied visa. So these women don't state the express purpose of the visit. It's more like, I am pregnant, and if ooops labor should start, I can afford to pay for medical care.
 
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Ganjababy

Well-Known Member
Just about to post this. Most upper middle class and wealthy Jamaicans I know do this. They even used to go to England until Thatcher changed the UK immigration laws in the 80's. I dated a Mahfood briefly and the idiot had the confederate flag hanging in his office talking about it was the flag of his country of birth. I was shocked.

There is even rumors about Seaga not being born in Jamaica but was born in the USA (or his mother giving birth to him on a plane to the US).


@RoundEyedGirl504 A LOT of Jamaicans do this. Not the whole paying an agency thousands of dollars bit. But they go to Canada and the US to have their children for the passport/citizenship. They usually have family or friends to stay with. I find a lot of middle to upper class Jamaicans do this and I was honestly was quite surprised when I discovered that when I moved here.

For me it seemed strange because even rich Bajans tend to have their kids at home, but we also aren’t traditionally big on emigration.
 

Anacaona

Well-Known Member
Yup. Plus if they don’t pay then the parents may not be granted visas again to visit the US.

Honestly, with all the evil the US has done here and abroad, I am not mad about this practice. What does bother me is the way the news media framed the Russian baby mill versus the Chinese one.

:yep:. Taxed to the gawds and still can't be mad about this
 
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Honey Bee

Well-Known Member
A Bahamian girl I met in college was born here and came a year before school she started to stay with family friends to qualify for instate tuition.

No. For in-state tuition you have to prove residency for a certain amount of years prior to applying for it. So it's not that easy.

According to IslandMummy and google, it only requires 1-3 yrs of residency depending on the state, ie for PA it's one yr, for SC it's three.
 

luckiestdestiny

Well-Known Member
The embassy gave my friend’s dad a visa but not her mom. And they were married and lived together! She got married without her mom. It was awful!
was there a particular reason that they excluded the mom? Did she have a previous long (too long) stay in the U.S, or a past record, etc? Just curious to why they chose to give to dad and not mom. I feel bad for your friend who surely wanted her mom there on her wedding day.
 

Femmefatal1981

Well-Known Member
According to IslandMummy and google, it only requires 1-3 yrs of residency depending on the state, ie for PA it's one yr, for SC it's three.
It’s 3 in SC and if I recall your parents have to be citizens of the state too unless you are an adult who works.

I know that we want to believe that black Americans would do better if we were so immigrant friendly. But it’s wishful thinking.

SC is extremely unfriendly to immigrants...and yet African Americans there are living in deplorable conditions.
 

Farida

Well-Known Member
was there a particular reason that they excluded the mom? Did she have a previous long (too long) stay in the U.S, or a past record, etc? Just curious to why they chose to give to dad and not mom. I feel bad for your friend who surely wanted her mom there on her wedding day.
Nope. And they are not required to give you a specific reason. They just quote the section of law that states you have insufficient ties to prove you will go back home. Her mom had never been to the states before. They were probably interviewed by two different officers on different days. Some consular officers are &$@$!!

For one wedding they gave my cousin a visa. No husband, no kids, no job and was not in school. While they denied her aunt’s visa. Aunt was travelling without her husband. She is principal at a school and had seven minor kids at home. Visa denied for “insufficient ties.”
 

Honey Bee

Well-Known Member
Nope. And they are not required to give you a specific reason. They just quote the section of law that states you have insufficient ties to prove you will go back home. Her mom had never been to the states before. They were probably interviewed by two different officers on different days. Some consular officers are &$@$!!
If my own mother couldn't come to the country I wanted to get married in, I'd get married in another country.
 

Farida

Well-Known Member
US citizens are required to pay taxes anywhere they are in the world. Correct? For the women who come here to give birth and then raises the child overseas, does the US enforce tax collection from these Citizens who reach adulthood overseas (those who don't migrate back to the USA)?

They don't necessarily enforce it.

And even if they did, your first $100K or so overseas are exempt from taxation:

"The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE, using IRS Form 2555) allows you to exclude a certain amount of your EARNED income from US tax. For tax year 2016 (filing in 2017) this exclusion was $101,300. What this means is that if, for example, you earned $115,000 in 2014, you can subtract $101,300 from that leaving $13,700 as taxable by the US. But beware: this $13,700 is taxable at tax rates applying to $115,000 (the so-called "stacking rule")."
 
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