Hospitals promoting birth tourism schemes must be held accountable by state agencies, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott mandated Tuesday via executive order.
The executive order directs agencies to investigate and eliminate unlawful birth tourism schemes in Texas and punish any licensed healthcare provider that facilitates or encourages such schemes.
“Individuals are traveling to the U.S. illegally to give birth and secure citizenship for their child. That's fraud,” Gov. Abbott wrote in a social media post announcing the order:
“I issued an executive order directing state agencies to investigate these birth tourism schemes and hold every provider that facilitates them accountable. U.S. citizenship is not for sale.”
On July 7, Gov. Abbott directed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to launch an for an investigation into a hospital center advertising “birth packages in South Texas” to foreign nationals in Mexico. Subsequently, HHSC referred the cases of two hospitals to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In one case highlighted by Fox News, the cost of the “birth packages” ranged from approximately $4,000-$5,500:
“One hospital, Mission Regional Medical Center, previously confirmed to Fox News Digital that it advertised Spanish-language ‘Birth Packages in South Texas’ on billboards in Mexico. The ads promoted childbirth services to pregnant foreign nationals near the U.S.-Mexico border. The services included promotional deliveries starting at $3,950 for a natural birth and $5,525 for a C-section.
"‘The marketing materials regarding maternity services are no longer in use due to any unintended misunderstanding,’ a hospital spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News at the time. ‘We do not support or facilitate any unlawful activity and work to comply with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations.’”
Tuesday’s executive order expands on Abbott’s earlier investigation directive by directing agencies to take enforcement action.
“Texas will not tolerate the exploitation of our immigration laws by individuals traveling to the United States illegally or under false pretenses to give birth and secure citizenship for their child,” Gov. Abbott said in a statement.
Per the order, state agencies must take enforcement action against any licensed or regulated individual or entity found to be advertising, soliciting, engaging in, assisting with, providing, or otherwise participating in unlawful birth tourism schemes.
Enforcement actions include:
- Revoking or suspending licenses.
- Prohibiting participation in state contracts.
- Denying state benefits.
- Pursuing other enforcement action under state law.
- Partnering with federal prosecutors regarding violations of federal laws.
A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) memorandum issued last month provides examples of how such schemes frequently involve “lies about the purpose or duration of one’s travel to the United States” and could run afoul of several federal criminal laws.
