House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is subpoenaing a doctor allegedly behind a sprawling birth tourism scheme based in Florida. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, is setting his sights on a new target after his crackdown on the Smithsonian Institution made headlines and thrust fresh scrutiny onto its teaching of American history. Gill's task force on investigating institutional abuses, which is part of the House Oversight Committee, is now gearing up for a hearing on the practice of birth tourism — something the White House sounded the alarm on just this month.
As part of the hearing, Comer sent a subpoena to Dr. Wladimir Lorentz of Have My Baby in Miami, a South Florida business that's aimed at helping foreigners give birth in the United States. The hearing is expected to take place Sept. 1.
Comer accused Lorentz of refusing to voluntarily appear via his attorney, and in a letter sent with the subpoena on Tuesday, Comer said Lorentz's attorney argued he could not speak with the committee due to a pending criminal probe being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida. "As the Founder and Chief Medical Officer of a company doing business as 'Have My Baby in Miami,' your knowledge regarding the company’s marketing practices and direct observations relevant to the birth tourism industry is vital to the immediate investigation," Comer's subpoena letter read.
SEN ERIC SCHMITT SEEKS TO END BIRTH TOURISM, REVOKE CITIZENSHIP FOR BABIES OF FOREIGN DIPLOMATS "Furthermore, given the national security concerns raised by birth tourism, delaying the hearing or deferring your testimony to some unknown date in the (potentially far) future would be an extraordinary action that would curtail the Committee’s ability to glean valuable information that will inform its oversight and further its legislative goals." Meanwhile, Gill echoed Comer's concerns over national security. BIRTH TOURISM FIGHT SHIFTS TO US ‘TROPICAL MATERNITY WARD’ WITH HISTORY OF CHINESE EXPLOITATION "A growing industry is openly marketing American citizenship to foreign nationals who travel here for the express purpose of giving birth on U.S. soil. This abuse of our immigration system also raises serious national security concerns, particularly given the number of birth tourists traveling from adversarial nations like China and Russia," the House GOP firebrand said.
His panel's Sept. 1 hearing is also expected to feature testimony from Dr. Steve Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies. The medical director and owner of a company called International Maternity Services, Dr.
Julio César Novoa, was also invited. TEXAS GOV ABBOTT SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER CRACKING DOWN ON 'BIRTH TOURISM,’ SAYS US CITIZENSHIP NOT FOR SALE Gill's new task force, which was founded this year, has largely focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts across various sectors of American life. He's held hearings on whether the Smithsonian's teaching of U.S. history involved overly ideological and political leanings, and whether DEI plays a role in running the American Bar Association (ABA).
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