NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — A South Florida business is turning childbirth into a passport to the American dream.
The booming business is called Have My Baby in Miami and offers maternity services to foreigners.
While President Donald Trump is pushing to end birthright citizenship, experts say the practice is constitutional.
Have My Baby in Miami is a concierge service for foreigners who want to have their baby on U.S. soil.
“Once you arrive in the USA, we recommend you obtain an American SIM card,” the company says on its website.
The Have My Baby in Miami website says it offers “complete logistical support.”
The company’s social media says Dr. Wladimir Lorentz is its head pediatrician, promoting its maternity service to tens of thousands of followers in Spanish and even more in Portuguese.
On its social media pages, Have My baby in Miami claims it’s helped deliver 2,000 babies.
The company also offers testimonials from customers, praising the medical care and highlighting the opportunities their babies now have by being born U.S. citizens.
“Tourists coming in and touching a piece of sand, and all of the sudden, they’re a citizen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The practice of what some call “birth tourism” has been around for years, but it’s now at odds with Trump’s efforts to change how birthright citizenship — provided by the U.S. Constitution -- is applied.
Trump’s executive order signed on his first day in office declares only newborns with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or has permanent legal status can become citizens.
The order is currently blocked by a federal court, but the White House is requesting that the Supreme Court decides.
“The issue is a nonstarter -- a president can’t by stroke of a pen rewrite the Constitution,” Professor Ediberto Román said.
Román teaches constitutional law at Florida International University’s College of Law.
He says companies like Have My Baby in Miami are not illegal, but raise constitutional concerns.
“They’re somewhat circumventing the naturalization process, at least with respect to their children. So it’s problematic.” Román said.
“To be clear though, not illegal?” Local 10’s Christian De La Rosa asked.
“Not illegal, and right now, it’s constitutional,” Román said.
Local 10 News reached out to the White House for comment and the Department of Homeland Security sent us a statement, saying in part:
“Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigates schemes or networks aimed at coercing pregnant women to come to the U.S. for the purpose of having a child who is a U.S. citizen…We will not allow our immigration system to be exploited.”
“I appreciate that concern because I don’t think the framers or even in fairly contemporary times there was a thought that birth tourism was going to be a phenomenon,” Román said. “I think there could be efforts to try to regulate that engagement, but that also may be questionable in terms of the Constitution.”
For weeks, Local 10 called, texted and emailed Have My Baby in Miami, located in North Miami Beach, repeatedly asking for an interview on their services.
None of our messages were returned.
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
