Expecting mothers line up at birthing clinics for pre-term delivery to beat Trump's US birthright citizenship change deadline: Report

Even as a federal judge Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to end automatic citizenship for babies born on US soil, expecting mothers, especially of Indian origin are lining up at birthing centres to get their babies delivered pre-term.

As per a report in The Times of India, Dr S D Rama, a doctor at a maternity clinic in New Jersey has been witnessing an unusually high demand for pre-term delivery since January 20, Donald Trump's inauguration.

Most of these women asking for a C-section to be scheduled before February 20, are of Indian origin and are in their eighth or ninth month of delivery. However, some are still a couple of months away from delivery date.

“A seven-month pregnant woman came with her husband to sign up for a preterm delivery. She isn’t due until sometime in March,” Dr Rama told TOI.

Meanwhile, a New Jersey-based eminent cardiologist told PTI that if somebody is seven or eight months pregnant, they can not have a pre-term delivery because it's not healthy for the mother or for the child.

"The child may end up in neo-natal intensive care unit. Actually, in America, I don't think any obstetrician will agree to that because it will be considered malpractice, and they are liable till the child gets to the age of 18... so nobody will take that risk," the doctor added.

Speaking to TOI, another doctor revealed that they had spoken to 15-20 couples in the past two days regarding the same thing.

The panic in the US comes as birthright citizenship acted as a safety net for many expectant couples given the backlog for green cards in the country.

Earlier this week, Trump signed an order declaring that future children born to undocumented immigrants would no longer be treated as citizens. The order would extend even to the children of some mothers in the country legally but temporarily, such as foreign students or tourists.

“We’ve been waiting for our green cards for six years. This was the only way to ensure stability for our family. We are terrified of the uncertainty," said an Indian-origin woman, who along with her husband moved to the US eight years back on H-1B visas.

Meanwhile, illegal immigrants who had been waiting for things to get better for them upon the birth of their children on US soil are also "crushed" by the announcement.

Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said changes in birthright citizenship as done through the executive order would impact newborn babies of not only illegal and undocumented immigrants but also those staying in this country legally like on H-1B visas.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

(With PTI inputs)