Abbott orders Texas officials to investigate hospital over ‘birth packages’ for foreign nationals

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) directed state officials on Tuesday to “immediately” launch an investigation into a state hospital for allegedly seeking to profit from “birth tourism” practices.

Abbott said in a letter to Stephanie Muth, the executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, that Mission Regional Medical Center has advertised “BIRTH PACKAGES IN SOUTH TEXAS” in foreign countries “in an apparent effort to profit from securing United States citizenship for their children.”

“Birth tourism is an illegal practice that exploits the extraordinary hospitality that the United States and Texas offer to millions of foreign travelers each year,” Abbott said in a statement.

“Thousands of foreign travelers come to the United States under false pretenses to give birth and secure citizenship for their children,” the Texas governor continued. “HHSC must investigate the hospital, a facility it regulates, for any violations of state law and contractual obligations.”

A spokesperson for Mission Regional Medical Center said in a statement that the hospital does “not support or facilitate any unlawful activity” and is committed to complying with “all applicable federal and state laws and regulations.”

“The marketing materials regarding maternity services are no longer in use due to any unintended misunderstanding,” the spokesperson said. “We intend to work cooperatively and transparently with local and state officials. Our focus remains on delivering safe, high-quality care to every patient who seeks our services.”

The public nonprofit hospital operates under the regulation of HHSC and is located just north of the Texas-Mexico border in a city called Mission.

Republicans have raised concerns over “birth tourism” after the Supreme Court ruled last week against the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine birthright citizenship.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller suggested in an interview last week with Fox News’s Jesse Watters that the U.S. could try to limit the entry of foreign pregnant women into the country.

“You have to now think very carefully about who you let into your country, even on a temporary basis, because [of] the possibility, as you said, for birth tourism,” Miller said Tuesday.

Birth tourism, which is outlawed, is a rare phenomenon. The Migration Policy Institute found in a report earlier this year that up to 26,000 children born in the U.S. each year could be tied to birth tourism — less than 1 percent of the over 3.5 million annual birthrate.

Additionally, immigration experts have pointed out that U.S. Customs and Border Protection already exercise the power to turn away people at the border and would need no new powers to block pregnant women from entering the country.

Abbott ended his letter to HHSC’s executive director by promising to work with the state legislature “to strengthen state law and eliminate birth tourism in Texas.”

“American citizenship is not for sale and Texas will not permit our healthcare system to be used as a magnet for birth tourism,” the governor wrote.

The Hill has reached out to HHSC for more information about the status of this investigation.

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Birth Tourism

Birth tourism

birthright citizenship

birthright citizenship

Foreign Countries

Greg Abbott

Greg Abbott

Jesse Watters

South Texas

Stephen Miller

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