In the final days of October, news came out that President Trump wanted to use executive order to end birthright citizenship in the U.S. In an interview with Axios, President Trump said the United States is “the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits”. Sticking to “America First”, he has been pushing hardline immigration policies to immigration issues.  

Although the news has aroused controversy in the U.S. and critics say President Trump has no rights to end birthright citizenship supported by the 14th Amendment, the news has still brought an anxiety to a group of people related to “birth tourism”.

Birth tourism gives pregnant women an opportunity traveling to and giving birth in another country for the purpose of obtaining citizenship for the child in a country with birthright citizenship. The United States is a popular destination for birth tourists. As long as pregnant women don’t lie on immigration or insurance paperwork, this practice is legal and protected by the 14th Amendment, which says anyone born on American soil is automatically a citizen. According to the Migration Policy Institute, more than 4 million children have the citizenship of the U.S. at birth.

Chinese pregnant women account for the majority of birth tourism group. According to Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Data, the total number of birth tourists from around the world to be about 36,000 per year, while other sources indicate the annual number of Chinese birth tourists to be around 20,000. Estimates by All America Mother Services Management Center in 2013 projected 60,000 Chinese births in 2016, more than 14 times as many as 2008, the first year Chinese people could apply for a U.S. Visitor Visa for tourism. the number of pregnant women coming to the U.S. has reached over 80,000, according to a Chinese research institution.

The reason that Chinese pregnant women choose to give birth in the U.S. has in common. The U.S. citizenship can allow their babies to enjoy advanced medical technology, good environment with clean air and water, advanced education resources and less-pressured course pressure. However, without the birthright citizenship supported by the U.S. Constitution, they would lose a way to give their babies a better life. There is no doubt that Trump’s opposition to birthright citizenship has brought them much anxiety.

Other than chinses pregnant women who want to give birth in the U.S., Trump’s proposition will also affect maternity hotel owners, who have been living in the U.S.

Maternity hotels sprang up over 30 years ago when Taiwanese chose to give birth in America to protect their children from mandatory military service. At first, these pregnant women lived with their relatives or friends waiting to give birth. However, as increasing numbers of pregnant Taiwanese women followed, the experienced in housing pregnant women sensed a fortune could be made. To accommodate the increasing number of pregnant women flocking to the U.S., maternity hotels offering comprehensive services for pregnant women sprang up. Los Angeles is the most popular destination for them. And when the U.S. Visitor Visa for tourism opened to Chinese citizens in 2008, the industry began an unprecedented boom.

Maternity hotels’ services include housing, cooking meals, appointing obstetricians, personal care by matrons, and driving. A large number of maternity hotels can produce many job opportunities and positions, for example, housekeepers, drivers, matrons, babysitters and obstetricians. According to a report of All America Mother Services Management Center, the maternity hotel industry chain in Los Angeles can support almost 10,000 people to make a living. However, if Trump succeeds in ending birthright citizenship, the whole industry will be affected.

While no one can predict the policy in immigration policies, the birth tourism and maternity hotel industry have an unsure future. The settled part is that Trump’s hardline attitudes toward immigration issues may have cracked down the industry.