RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. A South Florida physician at the center of a federal birth tourism probe refused to answer any questions during a House hearing Tuesday. The standoff comes as Republicans escalate efforts to restrict birthright citizenship and crack down on what they describe as a growing industry built around exploiting U.S. immigration rules.
The dispute now sets up a broader fight over how Congress may respond, who could be affected, and what federal policy changes may follow.
Lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee ’s Task Force on Protecting Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses subpoenaed Dr. Wladimir Lorentz, the founder of Miami Medical Concierge Services, after he declined earlier requests to testify about his company’s role in arranging births for foreign nationals.
Lorentz invoked the Fifth Amendment to every question, citing a pending federal investigation into his business, also known as “Have My Baby in Miami.”
Newsweek reached out to Lorentz's attorney for comment.
The hearing opened with Lorentz reading a prepared statement acknowledging the subpoena and asserting his constitutional right against self‑incrimination.
Republican members pressed him repeatedly about his company’s promotional materials, including a step‑by‑step guide for foreign clients seeking to give birth in the United States, instructions on obtaining international health insurance, and housing arrangements in Miami.
Committee Chairman Brandon Gill, a Texas Republican, cited archived versions of the company’s website, which advertised “over 2,000 deliveries of international patients,” and asked Lorentz whether he had assisted clients connected to foreign governments or criminal organizations.
Lorentz declined to answer each question.
Gill ultimately dismissed Lorentz from the witness panel, noting that the subpoena required his appearance but did not compel testimony that could incriminate him. Because Lorentz is already under federal investigation, lawmakers acknowledged they are unlikely to pursue contempt charges.
After Lorentz’s departure, the committee turned to Dr. Steven Camarota, the director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, who testified about the scale and consequences of birth tourism.
Citing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention birth certificate data and Census Bureau comparisons, Camarota said earlier estimates suggest 20,000 to 26,000 birth tourists per year, amounting to 200,000 to 300,000 children born to foreign nationals over the past decade.
He emphasized that official birth certificate addresses often mask the true scope of the practice because many birth tourism operators house clients in U.S. facilities and use those addresses to receive paperwork before the mothers depart.
“Birth tourists have a very strong incentive to stay long enough to ensure that the whole reason they came has been accomplished,” he said.
Camarota warned that the practice raises concerns about fraud, assimilation, and national security. Children born through birth tourism grow up abroad, he noted, yet retain unrestricted access to the United States as citizens. Once adults, they can sponsor their parents for green cards, potentially rewarding individuals who misrepresented their intentions to obtain visas.
He also pointed to the financial burden on hospitals and taxpayers, noting that emergency care cannot be denied and that Medicaid and charity programs often absorb the cost of deliveries.
“It doesn’t take much for this to run into the millions of dollars,” he said.
In 2019, federal agents carried out coordinated raids across Southern California targeting alleged “maternity hotel” operators who catered to foreign clients—primarily from China—seeking to give birth in the United States.
Those investigations resulted in multiple indictments involving visa fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy charges, marking one of the largest federal actions ever taken against commercial birth‑tourism networks.
The California cases demonstrated that the federal government has pursued these operations before, and they now serve as a backdrop for Republicans arguing that the Miami business represents a continuation of an industry that has repeatedly drawn law‑enforcement scrutiny.
He warned that permissive U.S. rules make the country uniquely vulnerable to exploitation.
“For us, it’s a big deal; for other countries, it’s smaller,” he said, arguing that foreign nationals may view U.S. citizenship as a strategic asset for their children.
Republicans raised concerns about whether foreign governments—particularly the Chinese Communist Party—could leverage U.S.‑born children for intelligence or influence operations. Camarota said he had no evidence of such activity but acknowledged it was “certainly possible” given the lack of vetting for U.S. citizens entering the country.
Democrats sharply criticized the hearing, accusing Republicans of weaponizing immigration policy and distorting the meaning of the 14th Amendment. Representative Ayanna Pressley called the proceeding “an assault on our democracy and our Constitution,” arguing that Republicans were using birth tourism as a pretext to undermine birthright citizenship itself.
Other Democrats framed the hearing as part of a broader push toward mass deportations and aggressive immigration enforcement.
Representative Christian Menefee confronted Camarota with reports of alleged abuses in ICE custody, including pregnant women who miscarried while restrained, and accused the Trump administration of terrorizing immigrant communities.
Camarota said he opposed any mistreatment and that responsible agents should be held accountable.
Representative James Walkinshaw argued that the majority’s true aim was to restrict immigration broadly, not address birth tourism spec...
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