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A California-based obstetrician of Indian origin who studied at Secunderabad’s Gandhi Medical College has come under scrutiny in the United States amid a renewed political fight over immigration and birthright citizenship.
According to a TOI report, Dr. Athiya Javid, who runs an OB-GYN practice in San Jose, was among four maternity-related businesses that received inquiry letters this week from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform led by Republican chairman James Comer and Texas Congressman Brandon Gill. Gill heads the panel’s Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses.
The congressional inquiry focuses on businesses that lawmakers allege are involved in “birth tourism” — a practice in which foreign nationals travel to the United States on temporary visas to give birth so their children receive automatic American citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
“Birth tourism should never be big business in the United States,” Comer and Gill said in a statement issued with the probe. They added, “This tactic exploits U.S. immigration law, and those who willfully misrepresent their intentions to temporarily come to the U.S. are breaking the law.”
(Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates)
Besides Dr. Javid’s clinic, Congress also sent letters to Doctores Para Ti, Have My Baby in Miami, and International Maternity Services.
Lawmakers said many foreign nationals using such services are from China and Russia and raised what they described as “national security concerns.” Gill said it should “appall every American” that a “thriving birth tourism economy” exists in the country.
The letter sent to Dr. Javid’s practice alleged that the clinic marketed services to “international patients seeking maternity care” and offered support beyond medical treatment. According to lawmakers, these services included “logistics support, temporary housing assistance, and legal consultations.”
Congressional investigators sought records dating back to January 2020. These include advertising materials, contracts, visa-related coaching documents, referral agreements, and figures related to clients and revenues from maternity packages designed for foreign expectant mothers.
The committee also requested “all documents and communications regarding coaching materials or ‘how to’ guides for obtaining a temporary visitor visa” and instructions for handling screening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
Birth tourism remains legally sensitive in the United States. It is not illegal for a foreign visitor to give birth in America. However, authorities may investigate cases where they believe a visa applicant concealed the true purpose of travel, which could amount to visa fraud. In 2020, the U.S. State Department tightened visa rules to deny tourist visas when officials believed the main purpose of travel was childbirth for securing citizenship.
The issue has appeared repeatedly in U.S. law enforcement investigations over the past decade, especially involving Chinese-run maternity operations in California. In one case, federal prosecutors secured convictions against operators accused of coaching Chinese clients on misleading immigration officers. Another case involved a Turkish national sentenced in New York in connection with a healthcare fraud-linked birth tourism operation.
Republican lawmakers and conservative immigration groups say the industry has expanded in recent years. The Center for Immigration Studies estimated in 2020 that about 26,000 babies were born annually to women on tourist visas. A later estimate put the figure at around 70,000 births in 2023 involving temporary visitors.
Historically, Chinese nationals have formed a major share of the birth tourism industry, especially wealthy families seeking education and mobility benefits for their children. Russian clients also became visible over the past decade, particularly in Florida and Southern California, where agencies advertised “American baby” packages.
Women from Nigeria, Turkey, Brazil, South Korea and parts of the Middle East have also reportedly participated in the practice. Indian involvement is considered smaller in comparison, although Indian-origin doctors, consultants and travel facilitators are sometimes linked to the wider medical tourism sector.
Unlike Chinese birth tourism networks, which often involved large maternity hostels and organised visa coaching, there is limited evidence of large India-based operations focused on securing U.S. citizenship births.
The debate has political significance for Indians because of the country’s strong connection to the U.S. immigration system through H-1B work visas and family-based immigration channels. Indian nationals face some of the largest employment-based green card backlogs in the United States. As a result, many Indian families remain on temporary visas for years while their U.S.-born children automatically receive citizenship.
Critics of President Donald Trump’s proposed restrictions on birthright citizenship argue that changes could affect thousands of Indian professionals working legally in sectors such as technology, medicine and academia.
The latest inquiry shows that birth tourism, once viewed as a limited immigration issue, is becoming part of a larger political debate in the United States over citizenship, immigration and national identity, with foreign doctors, maternity businesses and U.S.-born children of immigrants increasingly caught in the discussion.
According to a TOI report, Dr. Athiya Javid, who runs an OB-GYN practice in San Jose, was among four maternity-related businesses that received inquiry letters this week from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform led by Republican chairman James Comer and Texas Congressman Brandon Gill. Gill heads the panel’s Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses.
The congressional inquiry focuses on businesses that lawmakers allege are involved in “birth tourism” — a practice in which foreign nationals travel to the United States on temporary visas to give birth so their children receive automatic American citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
“Birth tourism should never be big business in the United States,” Comer and Gill said in a statement issued with the probe. They added, “This tactic exploits U.S. immigration law, and those who willfully misrepresent their intentions to temporarily come to the U.S. are breaking the law.”
(Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates)
Besides Dr. Javid’s clinic, Congress also sent letters to Doctores Para Ti, Have My Baby in Miami, and International Maternity Services.
Lawmakers said many foreign nationals using such services are from China and Russia and raised what they described as “national security concerns.” Gill said it should “appall every American” that a “thriving birth tourism economy” exists in the country.
The letter sent to Dr. Javid’s practice alleged that the clinic marketed services to “international patients seeking maternity care” and offered support beyond medical treatment. According to lawmakers, these services included “logistics support, temporary housing assistance, and legal consultations.”
Congressional investigators sought records dating back to January 2020. These include advertising materials, contracts, visa-related coaching documents, referral agreements, and figures related to clients and revenues from maternity packages designed for foreign expectant mothers.
The committee also requested “all documents and communications regarding coaching materials or ‘how to’ guides for obtaining a temporary visitor visa” and instructions for handling screening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
Birth tourism remains legally sensitive in the United States. It is not illegal for a foreign visitor to give birth in America. However, authorities may investigate cases where they believe a visa applicant concealed the true purpose of travel, which could amount to visa fraud. In 2020, the U.S. State Department tightened visa rules to deny tourist visas when officials believed the main purpose of travel was childbirth for securing citizenship.
The issue has appeared repeatedly in U.S. law enforcement investigations over the past decade, especially involving Chinese-run maternity operations in California. In one case, federal prosecutors secured convictions against operators accused of coaching Chinese clients on misleading immigration officers. Another case involved a Turkish national sentenced in New York in connection with a healthcare fraud-linked birth tourism operation.
Republican lawmakers and conservative immigration groups say the industry has expanded in recent years. The Center for Immigration Studies estimated in 2020 that about 26,000 babies were born annually to women on tourist visas. A later estimate put the figure at around 70,000 births in 2023 involving temporary visitors.
Historically, Chinese nationals have formed a major share of the birth tourism industry, especially wealthy families seeking education and mobility benefits for their children. Russian clients also became visible over the past decade, particularly in Florida and Southern California, where agencies advertised “American baby” packages.
Women from Nigeria, Turkey, Brazil, South Korea and parts of the Middle East have also reportedly participated in the practice. Indian involvement is considered smaller in comparison, although Indian-origin doctors, consultants and travel facilitators are sometimes linked to the wider medical tourism sector.
Unlike Chinese birth tourism networks, which often involved large maternity hostels and organised visa coaching, there is limited evidence of large India-based operations focused on securing U.S. citizenship births.
The debate has political significance for Indians because of the country’s strong connection to the U.S. immigration system through H-1B work visas and family-based immigration channels. Indian nationals face some of the largest employment-based green card backlogs in the United States. As a result, many Indian families remain on temporary visas for years while their U.S.-born children automatically receive citizenship.
Critics of President Donald Trump’s proposed restrictions on birthright citizenship argue that changes could affect thousands of Indian professionals working legally in sectors such as technology, medicine and academia.
The latest inquiry shows that birth tourism, once viewed as a limited immigration issue, is becoming part of a larger political debate in the United States over citizenship, immigration and national identity, with foreign doctors, maternity businesses and U.S.-born children of immigrants increasingly caught in the discussion.
