Birthright-citizenship proposal worries Chinese

While US President Donald Trump’s proposal to end birthright citizenship is being widely talked about in the country, the topic also is raising concerns among a certain group of people in China: those who want to have children in the US.

“My Weibo and WeChat have been bombarded with messages asking what would happen since Tuesday night,” said a Chinese blogger under the name “Ada’s Dad”.

He is popular among that group for his “birth tourism” blogs on Weibo and WeChat, two most popular social media networks in China. His Weibo account has almost 30,000 followers.

“Even those parents, whose children have been 4 or 5 years old, are worried that their children’s US passports would be revoked,” Ada’s Dad told China Daily on the phone. “I told them that’s a ridiculous thought,” he said.

In an interview with Axios on HBO released Tuesday, Trump said he would sign an executive order to end the right to citizenship for children born in the US to foreign parents.

In 2015, he used the term “anchor baby” in his campaign to target the foreign nationals who enter the country illegally to give birth to a US citizen child.

“I’m not too worried about what Trump said. I learned from the news that there’s a long process to pass legislation, and it’s not easy to change the Constitution in the US,” said a Chinese woman who gave only her last name, Wang.

She arrived from the Chinese city of Hangzhou two months ago and lives in a “maternity hotel” in Los Angeles. Early this month, she gave birth to a baby at St Joseph Hospital of Orange in Orange, California.

“Many friends in China who also plan to have babies in the US are worried that they won’t be able to ‘catch the last bus’. I think it (Trump’s announcement) will affect their near-term decisions,” said Wang.

“The news ignited a commotion in a WeChat group of more than 300 people (who want to have children in the US). They circulated various Chinese translated articles of the news,” said a Beijing-based man on condition of anonymity for fear of negatively impacting his career.

“I can say I’m not worried at all. But the US political system is different from China’s. Trump often makes sensational remarks. How many of those can become a reality? There’s a big question mark,” he said.

He and his wife got their visa this month and plan to travel to Los Angeles in February to give birth to their second baby at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center.

The couple had their first child at the same hospital five years ago.

This time they will live in Los Angeles for three months on a budget of 300,000 to 400,000 yuan (about $43,000 to $57,000), including medical expenses.

The husband admitted that the Chinese parents choose to have children in the US because of American citizenship.

Ada’s Dad has been sharing his experience and offering consultation through his social networking accounts since his first child was born in the US in 2012.

He even set up his own maternity hotel in Los Angeles three years ago.

“I think Trump’s proposal of ending birthright citizenship is related with the upcoming midterm elections,” he said.

“I told my clients to read original news from authoritative sources and learn more about the American society.”