Birth Tourism: An Emerging Issue in the United States

Pregnant women traveling to the US solely to obtain citizenship for their children by giving birth in the country. These women have no other intent other than to get US citizenship for their newborns.

Reasons
The main reason is the citizenship rules in the US. Under the 14th Amendment, any child born on US soil automatically becomes a US citizen, regardless of the citizenship and intent of the parents. This creates an incentive for expecting mothers from other countries to travel to America to deliver.

Significance

Birth tourism is a growing phenomenon in places like Florida, California and Texas. Various estimates indicate thousands of babies are born every year to foreign visitors. For example, one recent report showed about 10,000 Chinese women traveled to US in 2015 alone for giving birth. The number of babies born to mothers in tourist visa status more than doubled between 1999 to 2015.

Challenges Posed
The rise in birth tourism raises several concerns regarding security, healthcare costs and fair administration of immigration laws:

National Security Risks
There are concerns some birth tourists could have ties to criminal or terrorist networks in their home countries. This opens up ways for operatives with hostile intent to potentially exploit birthright citizenship rules. Though very few cases, it remains a vulnerability.

Healthcare Burden
Most Birth Tourism do not have health insurance and end up relying on publicly funded programs or charity care to pay for delivery costs. This ends up being a burden on state funded healthcare programs like Medicaid.
Fairness of Laws
Many argue automatic citizenship rules were not intended to provide havens for those traveling solely to exploit birthright provision. It allows foreign nationals to bypass proper visa and green card procedures laid out for legal immigration. This can be seen as unfair by those following lawful paths.

Debates Around Solutions
There is an active debate around possible policy responses. However, consensus remains elusive given entrenched views on both sides:

Deny Citizenship
Some argue for citizenship to only apply if at least one parent is a US citizen or green card holder. However, others counter that would require a Constitutional amendment to overturn the 14th Amendment precedent.

Prevent Visa Overstays
Ensuring visitors depart on time after giving birth is difficult to enforce due to limited resources. Also, those intending to overstay would find ways around tighter tracking systems.