Fetal citizens? Birthright citizenship, reproductive futurism, and the "panic" over Chinese birth tourism in southern California

Bibliographic Data

ID4867264
AuthorsSean Wang (0000-0002-4567-3263, Syracuse University, corresponding author), Sean H Wang (Syracuse University)
Year2017
Volume35
Issue2
Pages263-280
Publication date2017-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning D Society and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-7758 • E-ISSN: 1472-3433
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0263775816679832
OpenAlexW2550909667
LanguageEN
Citations received34
References cited74

In September 2012, residents of Chino Hills, California-a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles-exposed a maternity hotel in their city. Subsequently, controversy erupted as protesting residents argued that Chinese birth tourism is an immigration loophole, where foreigners took advantage of jus soli birthright citizenship guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This paper uses this controversy as a springboard to explore how temporalities-both the past and the future-come to shape politics in the present. Considering reproductive futurism in the contexts of citizenship and migrations, this paper argues that the figure of the fetal citizen emerges as the defining site of struggle between preserving, or exposing, the fantasy of a national future. Reports of panic over Chinese birth tourism, then, show how "backwards" racialized citizenship is continually brought to this present struggle, especially vis-a-vis discourses of the "worthy immigrant" and "anchor babies", to determine who may give birth to citizens in the U.S

Citizenship · Constitution · Immigration · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Temporalities · Tourism · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Gender Studies · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Sex work and related issues

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