Texas: Governor Abbott Announces HHSC Referral In Birth Tourism Investigation

Governor Greg Abbott today announced that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) acted swiftly on his directive to crack down on birth tourism.

"I am pleased that HHSC took decisive action based on my directive last week," said Governor Abbott. "Regardless of what the Supreme Court of the United States may have said, U.S. citizenship is not for sale in Texas. Texas will not tolerate the exploitation of our health care system as a pathway to skirt federal immigration laws."

Last week, the Governor directed HHSC to investigate birth tourism packages marketed by Mission Regional Medical Center to foreign nationals. The Governor ordered HHSC to immediately refer any violations of state law to the Office of the Attorney General for civil enforcement and to the appropriate District or County Attorney for criminal prosecution.

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The following day, HHSC submitted a referral to the Attorney General's office based on publicly available evidence connecting two Texas hospitals to a birth tourism scheme being advertised at "havemybabyinTEXAS.com."

Governor Abbott will continue to halt these fraudulent birth tourism schemes and hold accountable any hospital or facility that profits from them.

Read the HHSC letter referring the matter to the Office of the Attorney General here.

Any Texan with information on similar schemes should report it immediately to the HHSC Office of Inspector General here. For potential federal violations, including immigration matters, tips should be submitted through the Department of Justice here or to the appropriate U.S. Attorney's Office in Texas.

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