Birth tourism is considered as the travel to another country with the intent of giving birth in that country. The main reason for birth tourism is to obtain citizenship for the child in a country with birthright citizenship.
It was reported that for a growing number of Russian women, what draws them to Miami isn’t sunny beaches, but U.S. citizenship for their newborn children. According to the article, in Moscow it is considered a status symbol to have a Miami-born baby. Social media is full of Russian women boasting of their American babies.
Instead of coming here fleeing a corrupt government, poverty or seeking asylum, these women come to give birth to demonstrate their status.
When questioned why they would spend thousands of dollars to spend months in the U.S. to give birth, the women replied with casual answers, citing possession of an American passport and better education in the U.S. as their reasoning.
This is completely legal and protected by the 14th amendment—when it comes to Eastern European white women. But what about the millions of immigrants who flock from South America, Africa and Middle Eastern countries seeking refuge from corrupt governments and poverty? Why is the U.S. government and society so ready to label these refugees as criminals when Miami accepts hordes of Russian women entering the country annually simply to give U.S. citizenship to their babies?
The double standard in this situation is horrendous. These Russian women come to Miami, care-free and ready to spend a couple of months in luxury. Rather than face the 12-18 months of background checks and suspicion that other immigrants must endure, Russians are free to make their children natural-born American citizens for the sake of becoming a status symbol. But when Salvadorans flee from El Salvador due to gang violence, poverty and a corrupt government, Trump decides to end TPS for them. When Syrian refugees attempt to enter the U.S., they have to endure months of background checks, time in which they could die before they even make it to the United States.
There are still millions of Americans who agree on closing our borders off to the world and letting the world rot to pieces around us. But if people insist on fearing and hating immigrants, they should ask themselves why they choose to only hate those of color.
