Government Accountability Institute Vice President Eric Eggers says China isn’t exploiting America’s birthright citizenship laws by accident—it’s doing it through an organized industry that openly markets U.S. citizenship as a product.
Appearing on Flyover Conservatives, Eggers laid out what he described as a years-long operation in which more than 1,000 Chinese companies advertise packages that help expectant mothers travel to the United States, deliver babies on American soil, and return home with children who receive U.S. citizenship.
“No one is doing it at the size and scale of China,” Eggers said. “China is exploiting birthright citizenship on an industrial scale.”
According to Eggers, the businesses don’t just sell American passports — they market lifelong access to American benefits.
“They talk about the free education, but they talk about all the welfare benefits you get not only as a child but as a senior citizen,” Eggers said. “They’re advertising cradle-to-grave access to our welfare system.”
The numbers don’t add up—because nobody is counting
One of Eggers’ biggest criticisms wasn’t aimed at China — but at Washington.
He argued that the fierce debate over how many birth tourism cases occur each year misses the bigger problem: federal agencies don’t have a reliable way to measure the practice.
The CDC estimates roughly 9,600 births annually involve mothers listing foreign addresses, while the Center for Immigration Studies has estimated about 20,000 births to foreign nationals. Eggers contrasted those figures with Chinese government data and independent researchers who he said place the number between roughly 50,000 and 185,000 annually.
“The real scandal is that we are not, as a country, paying attention to it,” Eggers said.
He argued the lower American figures are artificially depressed because companies allegedly instruct clients to avoid identifying themselves as foreign visitors.
“These birth tourism companies will coach the women to not give foreign addresses because that’s obviously going to raise a red flag.”
‘Always bring receipts’
Eggers credited Peter Schweizer and the Government Accountability Institute for helping force the issue into the national spotlight, saying years of investigative work culminated in birth tourism becoming part of the legal debate surrounding birthright citizenship.
He noted that President Donald Trump’s rare attendance at Supreme Court oral arguments reflected how seriously the administration viewed the issue.
“What I’ve learned… is you want to have your opinions grounded in facts,” Eggers said.
“We have a phrase: ‘Facts get shares, opinions get shrugs.’”
He added:
“Always bring receipts.”
A legislative path may still exist
Although the Supreme Court ultimately declined to embrace the Trump administration’s position on birthright citizenship, Eggers argued the legal fight may not be over.
He pointed to what he described as language from Justice Brett Kavanaugh that could leave room for Congress to pursue legislative reforms, while also suggesting U.S. territories and possessions could present a separate legal question.
“We do believe that Justice Kavanaugh… left the door open for a legislative solution,” Eggers said.
China’s own advertising tells the story, Eggers says
For Eggers, the existence of more than 1,000 companies openly selling birth tourism services is itself powerful evidence.
“Over 1,000 companies advertise this service in China,” he said.
He argued such businesses could not operate so openly without the knowledge—or at least tolerance—of Chinese authorities.
“That doesn’t happen without the support” of the Chinese government, Eggers said.
Watch the clip above.
