6 Surprisingly Common Crimes Committed in Hospitals
Birth tourism, the practice of travelling to the U.S. for the specific purpose of having a child with American citizenship, is not in itself illegal. The problem with the little known but widespread practice is that it strains hospital resources and is often accompanied by fraud, misuse of visas and tax evasion. In one case this year at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital in California, Chinese citizens Hongbao Xu and Xiaojing Cao underpaid by more than $24,000 for the birth of their child after fleeing to their home country a month after the birth. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that roughly 40,000 “birth tourism” babies are born in the U.S. each year.
