{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sablan.house.gov/birth-tourism-serious-concern-says-kilili", "Birth tourism a serious concern, says Kilili", "2017-11-16", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "MP", "Gregorio Sablan", "S001177", "sablan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Marianas Variety \u2014 U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan said birth tourism is a serious concern for the CNMI \u201cbecause it could threaten\u2026the parole program that makes Chinese and Russian tourism possible for us.\u201d\nBirth-tourism may also involve criminal activity and overstaying, \u201cwhich cannot be tolerated and which gives the Marianas a bad name,\u201d he added.\nHe said the Trump administration has its eye on birth-tourism in the CNMI. In a way, this is unfair \u2014 birth tourism is a problem everywhere in the U.S., not just the Marianas, Kilili said.\n\u201cI have also been saying for years that the commercial airlines need to do a better job of prescreening \u2014 the same way our charters do \u2014 to keep birth tourists out. Former Gov. Eloy Inos and I asked the Department of Homeland Security to help with this, but under President Barack Obama, the agency said it did not have the legal authority. Maybe we will see a change with the Trump administration.\u201d\nAt the same time, Kilili said he is \u201cvery pleased to learn that the United States Attorney\u2019s Office filed an indictment against an individual who promoted birth tourism, was working without a worker visa, hiring tourists as workers, and potentially money laundering.\u201d\nFrom 2011 to 2017 the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.\u2019s Vital Statistics Office recorded an increase in births involving mostly women from China.\nIn 2011 there were 221 births involving mothers who were tourists. In 2012 there were 319; in 2013, 287; in 2014, 314; in 2015, 379; in 2016, 482; and from January to October 2017, the figure was 465.\nUnder the American Constitution, U.S. citizenship is automatically conferred on children born in the U.S.\nOn Dec. 30, 2016, the Los Angeles Times published a news report titled, \u201cWhy birth tourism from China persists even as U.S. officials crack down.\u201d\nIt stated that \u201ceven as middle class incomes in China enjoy explosive growth, and 96 percent of Chinese people in a recent Pew Research poll say their lives are better than those of their parents, an unknown number of \u2018birth tourists\u2019\u2026cross oceans each year to have their babies in America. And in America\u2019s Chinese enclaves, they find a cottage industry of Chinese midwives, drivers and doctors who accept cash and \u2018maternity hotels\u2019 \u2014 apartments or homes run as hotels for the women during their pregnancies.\u201d\nThe report stated that \u201canyone who lies about the purpose of their visit to the U.S. can be charged with visa fraud, but birth tourism per se is not illegal.\u201d\nThe report quoted Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as saying: \u201cThere is nothing in the law that makes it illegal for pregnant women to enter the United States.\u201d\nAccording to the LA Times, in 2015, \u201cthe State Department issued 2.27 million visas to Chinese tourists. It does not track what proportion of visas are issued to birth tourists. Childbirth is a legitimate reason to travel to the U.S., and as long as Chinese nationals provide the correct paperwork and evidence they can pay for their medical care, they will be issued a visa, department officials said.\u201d\nThe report also stated that the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative-leaning think tank, \u201cestimates that nearly 36,000 Chinese nationals give birth in the U.S. each year, but \u2018that\u2019s just a guess,\u2019 said Jessica Vaughan, the center\u2019s executive director.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://sablan.house.gov/birth-tourism-serious-concern-says-kilili"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9781941771507263, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}