国人赴美生子潮：看美国媒体是怎么报道的

当马发虹(音)到达洛杉矶国际机场的出入境柜台时，签证官只问了她两个问题。

"Why are you coming to the U.S.?"

为什么来美国？"

"I'm here to have a baby."

"为了生孩子。"

"How much cash do you have on you?"

"你身上有多少钱?"

"I only have $1,000 in cash, but I have a debit card with much more in the bank."

"我身上只带了1000美元，不过我带了一张存了不少钱的银行卡。"

Passport stamped. Welcome to Los Angeles.

盖章通过。欢迎来到洛杉矶。

Ma is part of a growing wave of Chinese women who are flocking to the United States -- California, in particular -- to have children who will grow up as American citizens. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship to every person born on American soil, a fact that has long motivated foreigners from all over the world to give birth in the U.S.

马是近些年新兴来美潮中的一员，这些人来到美国(尤其是加利福尼亚地区)生下自己的孩子，等孩子长大了，自然就会成为美国公民。由于美国宪法第14修正案规定凡是在美国土地上出生的孩子都会自动获得美国国籍，这条法案也激励着世界各地的准妈妈们前赴后继的来到美国生育自己的孩子。

美国人一般讨论起"移民家庭"，话题的中心都是那些来自拉丁美洲想在美国获得更好经济生活条件的家庭。不过这两年随着中国收入的提高，签证门槛的降低，一大批来自中国的准妈妈们也来到了美国的土地上，这让美国现在的"移民妈妈"话题变得更为复杂了。

Most of the Chinese mothers come with large sums of cash at their fingertips, money they often spend on houses and luxury goods. While many, like Ma, enter and give birth in the U.S. legally, others buy package plans from "birth tourism" agencies -- profit-seeking and sometimes illegal organizations that arrange accommodations and hospital visits for groups of Chinese women. These businesses have clustered in California, a top tourism destination that also boasts large Chinese-American communities that make many expectant mothers feel at home.

大多数来自中国的准妈妈手头都有大量现金，往往在她们来美之后就会花销在购买住房和奢侈品上。虽然有很多像马女士这样以合法程序来到美国生育后代的准妈妈，但同时还有很多人会去参加"生育之旅"代理公司的计划。这种代理公司往往会为囊中羞涩的参与者安排非法的住处和不正规的医院。这种"企业"已经在加州扎堆出现，由于加州一直以来就是旅行者集中选择的旅行目的地，再加上本地有很多来美的华人家庭，这使得准妈妈们往往会有一种"宾至如归"的感觉。

In March, federal agents raided several "maternity hotels" in the Los Angeles area. Undercover investigations had revealed that the groups were evading taxes, encouraging women to lie to immigration officials and sometimes defrauding hospitals.

今年三月份的时候，联邦特工搜查了几个洛杉矶地区的"月子中心"，此前的秘密调查显示，这种月子中心并没有为自己几百万美元的收入缴纳税款，还鼓励怂恿女性欺骗移民局甚至是医院。

现在并没有对于中国去美生育孩子的妈妈的可靠调查数据，但是据相关行业出版物的估计，在2014年这一数量大约为6万人，六倍于2012的数据。来美生育的爆发阶段在2013年，据信是由于很多准妈妈受到了热播电影"北京遇上西雅图"的启发。在电影中，女主角是一个成功男士的情妇，以旅游签证骗过了签证官，偷偷来到西雅图生孩子买包包。

That film popularized and sensationalized the phenomenon, but Ma and her husband, Zhu Yuesheng, are much more low-key. Born near the dawn of Chinese economic reforms in the late 1970s, Ma and Zhu left behind the farms their parents tilled in order to attend college. Riding China's economic boom, the couple sought work in the southern manufacturing powerhouse of Guangdong province, eventually starting their own factory that produces computer handbags.

"北遇西"的电影夸张了相关的现象，提醒并刺激了很多人模仿这一行为。不过马女士和她的丈夫朱月生(音)要低调得多。朱先生和马女士生在1970年代，在中国开始经济高速发展的前夜，他们离开了生养自己的乡下，进入大学学习，乘着中国改革开放的春风，他们来到广东的制造业中心打工，并最终开创了自己的事业，建立了一个制造手提电脑包的工厂。

When the couple had their first child a decade ago, legally giving birth in the U.S. was only an option for the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan Chinese couples. But over the past 10 years, visas to the U.S. have become easier to get for Chinese nationals, and the country's per capita GDP has more than doubled.

当十年前，这对夫妇第一次有了孩子的时候，去国外生育还只是限于最富有或是最有国际视野的中国家庭的选择，但现在国内的GDP也翻倍了，去往美国的签证也容易获得多了。

与此同时中国国内让准妈妈们深为不安的新闻也越来越多。对食品安全无法保障的恐惧——包括毒奶粉事件，时常会出现在新闻的头条中，而大众也警惕的意识到空气污染在未来的很长一段时间中会有吞噬中国国内主要城市的危险。近期一项研究显示，空气严重污染与新生儿低体重有关联，会对宝宝出生前几个月以及未来的生活造成负面影响。

But foremost in many Chinese parents' minds are the educational opportunities available in the U.S. Weary of their country's test-obsessed education system, record numbers of Chinese parents have been sending their children to American kindergartens, Ph.D. programs and everything in between. An American passport makes many of these opportunities cheaper and more accessible.

但是萦绕在许多中国父母心中，让美利坚公民变得更为吸引人的是美国的教育机会。对国内应试教育的厌倦让许多中国父母把从幼儿园小朋友到博士生的子女送出国门。如果有了美国公民的身份，留学之路会容易很多也便宜很多。

在加州生一个孩子可并不是一笔便宜的投资，月子中心提供的打包套餐往往两万美刀起价，马女士和朱先生选择租住在长滩的朋友家中，但是他们自己估计这次生育之旅总共也花了三万刀以上。

But even those high outlays essentially pay for themselves in many cases. If Ma and Zhu had given birth to their second child in China, they likely would have faced fines equal to $40,000 for violation of the country's "one-child policy."

不过这笔钱不管是在哪恐怕也都是要支出的。如果马女士回国生育，就有可能因为违反国内计划生育的政策而面临着相当于四万美元的罚款。

但也不是所有的观察者都这么乐观，参议员大卫·维特(R-La.)称这种现象为"坚果"，他与其他几位参议员想要通过法律手段阻断在美生育直接获得美国国籍的行为。移民研究生中心的Jon Feere已经在国会质询中作证，认为"生育之旅"体现了移民法中的某些弊端。

"One of the key problems with birth tourism is that that birth tourists are effectively taking control over U.S. immigration and citizenship policy by turning a grant of temporary admission into a permanent stay," Feere told The WorldPost in an email. "And they're doing it through fraud, lying to our officials."

Jon Feere在给WorldPost的电邮中表示，生育旅行的主要问题在于它实际上是利用了美国移民法和美国的公民政策，把暂时性的进入许可变成了永久性的居留，更何况很多这样做的人甚至没有经过正规的手续和途径。

Federal investigations in Los Angeles found that many of the maternity hotels didn't pay taxes on millions of dollars in income, and that employees had coached expectant mothers on how to hide their true intentions from visa and immigration officials.

洛杉矶的联邦调查发现，许多月子中心并没有为几百万美元的收入纳税，并且还存在教唆准妈妈欺骗签证官以及入境海关隐藏真实赴美目的的行为。

联邦特工在突袭月子中心的行动中检查一个箱子

Agents also discovered evidence of agencies or mothers defrauding hospitals, sometimes by relying on discounts for impoverished mothers. One family that paid just a small fraction of its $28,845 hospital bill was found to have purchases at Louis Vuitton and Rolex on its bank statement.

联邦特工也发现了月子中心欺骗产科医院的相关证据，有时非法的月子中心会利用贫困家庭的折扣减免政策。某个享受了贫困政策的产妇被发现在同一个银行账户下购买了路易斯威登和劳力士的奢侈品。

For the time being, the federal raids may have slowed the influx of Chinese visitors. One consultant who arranges birth tourism trips told The New York Times' Chinese edition that business has dropped 30 percent over the past month.

现阶段，联邦特工的几次突击检查可能会减缓一部分来美的中国家庭的脚步，一家代理公司的负责人就告诉纽约时报的记者，上个月的相关旅行就环比降低了30%。

但在采访中，很多中国家庭还是对自己孩子双重文化背景持乐观态度，朱先生一家希望自己的两个孩子都能进入洛杉矶的私立中学，夫妻俩希望可以一直在中美两国间旅行。

Asked if their American-born son would grow up feeling Chinese or American, Zhu told The WorldPost, "I hope he can balance both."

当被问及他们美国的孩子未来会以中国人风格成长起来还是美国式的风格，朱先生说，我希望他能对两种文化兼容并蓄。