[国际新闻] 中国产妇到美国生「美国人」掀出生公民权争论

香港明报 2011-03-30

【明报专讯】近年成为亚裔集中地的美国加州洛杉矶社区圣加布里埃尔（San Gabriel），被揭发有住宅私自改装成「产妇酒店」，专门安排中国阔太赴美产子。事件揭出外国人赴美产子的问题，令人忧虑「产妇旅游业」日益蓬勃，有舆论促请政府修宪，阻止外国人为让子女取得公民权而赴美产子。
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　　房间设按摩池专人照料婴孩人在德国社区% {5 u4 i8 H* O3 m- y% P0 N

　　该住宅为多栋连建式平房，卫生情况良好，产妇各有独立房间，部分房间更设有按摩池、私人雪柜和巨型衣柜，另有专人负责照料婴孩，现场亦有大量奶粉和孕妇专用的维他命。加州巿政官员及警方于3月9日以违反建筑条例为由查封住宅，译音姓张的屋主将被罚款800美元（约6240港元）。目前住宅内的10名产妇及其婴儿，已被送往邻近旅馆暂住。
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　　中韩墨西哥形成产业链

　　官员称，相信该住宅已用作接待产妇多月，产妇均来自中国，持合法旅游签证入境，由家人支付数万美元赴美产子，以让孩子自动成为美国公民。事件已向公共卫生及入境部门通报。美国移民及海关执法局称，去年于南加州亦发现有类似个案，但经调查后未有证据显示有人违法。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de- C1 g8 x7 M' @; V0 Z

　　此前，外界大多以为只有拉丁美国家非法入境者赴美产子的问题，但如今情已转变为较富裕的外国产妇以旅游签证合法入境产子。有专家推测，富裕的中国母亲热中为孩子取得美国公民身分，很可能是一种保险措施，因为只要孩子年满21岁，就可以为父母申请美国公民权，为他们提供离国便利。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de- Q5 u, N& Z# \4 _" r
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　　舆论质疑此事只是冰山一角，忧虑国内会有愈来愈多类似的私人设施悄然冒起，演变成制度化的「产妇旅游业」。有移民政策专家指，中国、韩国（南韩）和墨西哥等地都有商人推出产妇套餐，安排产妇赴美产子所需的医疗、保险及产后护理，规模之大难以估量。美国舆论就出生公民权（birthright citizenship）掀起激烈争议，有议员更要求删除美国宪法第十四修正案，取消让所有在国内出生的婴儿自动享有公民权的条文。
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　　虽然国务院不会单纯因为申请者怀孕而拒绝发出签证，但美国移民研究中心行政总监克里科罗安（Mark Krikorian）认为，政府应该收紧移民控制，「（产妇）来到美国，然后带着可以毫无限制入境的人离开，这现象根本是荒谬的」。* j5 \$ `& T) P" ]1 ]5 F

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A snapshot left at a so-called maternity house in California.) f) j$ T% f- i0 i5 J! n

The front of one of the town houses. Officials said they could not determine exactly how many women had been there.

A room inside a so-called "maternity tourism" house in California.7 n4 i' K) J# l7 u3 ?$ y3 f; Y

Arriving as Pregnant Tourists, Leaving With American Babies
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SAN GABRIEL, Calif. — The building inspectors and police officers walked into the small row of connected town houses here knowing something was amiss. Neighbors had complained about noise and a lot of pregnant women coming and going. And when they went into a kitchen they saw a row of clear bassinets holding several infants, with a woman acting as a nurse hovering over them.rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de% q# x+ G3 `) W) I; s
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For months, officials say, the house was home to “maternity tourists,” in this case, women from China who had paid tens of thousands of dollars to deliver their babies in the United States, making the infants automatic American citizens. Officials shut down the home, sending the 10 mothers who had been living there with their babies to nearby motels.3 n+ P5 r( ?9 c9 `

“These were not women living in squalor — it was a well taken care of place and clean, but there were a lot of women and babies,” said Clayton Anderson, a city inspector who shut down the house on March 9. “I have never seen anything like this before. We really couldn’t determine the exact number of people living there.”7 d" I. H- [: D0 [7 n& H3 ?- K8 J

For the last year, the debate over birthright citizenship has raged across the country, with some political leaders calling for an end to the 14th Amendment, which gives automatic citizenship to any baby born in the United States. Much of the debate has focused on immigrants entering illegally from poor countries in Latin America. But in this case the women were not only relatively wealthy, but also here legally on tourist visas. Most of them, officials say, have already returned to China with their American babies.

Immigration experts say it is impossible to know precisely how widespread “maternity tourism” is. Businesses in China, Mexico and South Korea advertise packages that arrange for doctors, insurance and postpartum care. And the Marmara, a Turkish-owned hotel on the Upper East Side in New York City, has advertised monthlong “baby stays” that come with a stroller.

For the most part, though, the practice has involved individuals. The discovery of the large-scale facility here in the San Gabriel foothills raises questions about whether it was a rare phenomenon or an indication that maternity tourism is entering a new, more institutionalized phase with more hospital-like facilities operating quietly around the country.2 f8 G0 o2 V6 N7 [1 j$ K, g
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The San Gabriel town houses are nestled in a small street lined with modest houses, small apartment buildings and palm trees. A construction crew was at work late last week, closing up walls that had been knocked down between units, in violation of the housing code.