Birth Tourism on the Rise: Nigeria Claims Fourth Place in U.S.

The Center for Immigration Studies reports that Nigeria ranks fourth in the world for birth tourism, alongside countries like China, Taiwan, Korea, Turkey, Russia, Brazil, and Mexico, with an estimated 33,000 births occurring annually in the United States. 

Birth tourists typically spend between $7,000 and $100,000 each to secure citizenship for their newborns, according to data from the U.S. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. This practice often leads to both parents migrating to the United States 21 years later, circumventing the usual immigration numerical limits.

Kaizen D. Asiedu (@thatsKAIZEN) on X commented on this trend, stating, “While there isn’t a precise figure for Nigerians engaging in birth tourism, approximately 40,000 children are born each year to mothers who are not citizens and have traveled to America to give birth, thus acquiring birthright citizenship. They spend between $40,000 and $100,000 on birth tourism agencies, stay in luxury hotels, commit visa fraud, and then return home. Birthright citizenship is being exploited.” 

President Trump’s recent executive order to end birthright citizenship has ignited considerable debate and highlights a visa regulation enacted by the U.S. Department of State on January 24, 2020, which aims to eliminate birth tourism to secure citizenship for newborns. The statement indicated, “Under this amended regulation, U.S. consular officers abroad will deny any B nonimmigrant visa application from an applicant whom the consular officer believes is traveling primarily to give birth in the United States to obtain U.S. citizenship for their child.”

The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has indicated that it does not comprehensively track birth tourism, stating that there is no business interest or legal reason to do so. They also pointed out the challenges in distinguishing birth tourism from the larger category of medical travel.

A federal indictment revealed that birth tourism operators can charge as much as $100,000 for their services, with one major operator allegedly utilizing 14 different bank accounts to receive over $3.4 million in international wire transfers within just two years.

To gain a better understanding of the birth tourism industry in the United States, a committee reviewed around 3,000 TECS narratives related to “birth tourism” from 2015 to 2020. 

Ada Baby, located in California, offers birth tourism packages priced between $22,000 and $38,000, not including hospital, doctor, certificate, and airfare fees. Another operator, Miami Mama in Florida, provides similar packages that range from $6,900 to $49,000, depending on the chosen hospitals and doctors. Their premium packages include extra services like consultations with American doctors and private hospital rooms.

A minority staff report from the U.S. Senate regarding the U.S. birth tourism industry revealed that prospective birth tourists often declare significant amounts of cash, ranging from a few thousand to several hundred thousand dollars. Typically, these declarations fall between $20,000 and $50,000.

As a result, most of them make multiple trips to the United States to ensure citizenship for their children. Additionally, birth tourists often receive considerable adjustments to their medical bills, sometimes exceeding $25,000, which are frequently covered by state healthcare systems or Medicaid. In several instances, tourists were unable to explain these large adjustments.

Federal indictments have highlighted cases where customers of birth tourism failed to pay their full childbirth costs, leaving hospitals and doctors with unpaid bills. For instance, one couple paid only $4,600 of the $32,291 in hospital charges, while another couple paid a discounted rate of $4,080 for their hospital bills.