The term “birth tourism” is all too common in developed countries. Both Canada and United States offer “birth citizenship” where neither parent is required to be a citizen for babies born in the country to receive automatic citizenship.
In the U.S. birthright citizenship is mandated by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution and includes anyone born in the country. Predominately, women from China, Russia and Nigeria are the ones coming. While the U.S. has not published official numbers, unofficial numbers are at 33,000 per year. Many of these women pay Brokers to obtain their visas, which enables them to enter the U.S., give birth and then leave. Along with other immigration reform, the Trump Administration has announced it will stop birthright citizenship to address the national security and law enforcement risks associated with birth tourism, including criminal activity associated with the birth tourism industry”. The plan is to give State Department Officials full authority and power to deny Visitor / Business Visas to applicants who “appear” to be using the visa as a means to obtain automatic citizenship for their babies. Reports also claim the problem is not that high in comparison to other immigration concerns.
Canada’s citizenship laws are mandated by the Canadian Citizenship Act, passed in 1947, which provides that any individual born in Canada becomes an automatic Canadian citizen. In Canada, the numbers are growing; in 2019 alone, the rate increased by 13%. A staggering 98% of these births are to Chinese Nationals. Overseas Brokers are cashing in on this, promoting benefits to Canadian Citizens such as lower Canadian post-secondary tuition rates, free education, traveling visa free to some countries, and the right to sponsor their parents to come to Canada once they are 18 years old. Liberals and Conservatists are both concerned about this problem and have even suggested an end to birthright citizenship, similar to the proposal by the Trump Administration in the U.S.
Currently, only 35 countries in the world allow birthright citizenship, with the U.S. and Canada having the most illegal activity.
