The founder of a Miami company that helps foreign nationals travel to the United States to give birth declined to answer questions from a House committee this week, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Dr. Wladimir Lorentz, founder and chief medical officer of Have My Baby in Miami, appeared before the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses, chaired by Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX). Lorentz told the committee he would not respond to any questions because his company is currently under federal investigation.
“On the advice of counsel, I will respectfully decline to answer any questions touching the subject matter of a pending federal investigation on the grounds that a truthful answer may tend to incriminate me,” Lorentz said.
He added that his refusal to answer should not be read as an admission of wrongdoing.
“Nothing in my appearance here today and nothing in my declining to answer questions should be understood as a concession on the merits of the ongoing investigation,” Lorentz said.
Gill launched a congressional inquiry into several birth tourism companies, including Have My Baby in Miami, in May. At the time, he singled out the company by name.
“Have My Baby in Miami — that’s the name of an actual company that is facilitating birth tourism into the United States, where foreigners come in on visas, have children, then leave so that their children can remain American citizens,” Gill said. “That’s a problem. The American people are sick of it, and my task force on the House Oversight Committee is going after these companies.”
A Wider Pattern
An estimated 33,000 children born in the U.S. each year are granted birthright citizenship even though their parents entered the country on temporary visas, often as tourists, according to figures cited during the hearing. Those children can later sponsor their parents for green cards once they turn 21.
Birth tourism operations have been documented among Turkish nationals in New York City, Chinese nationals in California, Russian nationals in Florida, and travelers from the Middle East in Illinois. A 2019 Justice Department investigation found that roughly 8,500 U.S.-born children in California received citizenship after their parents arrived on tourist visas specifically to give birth.
