Immigration fraud and the need to end birthright citizenship

Six charged with defrauding US of $2.1m in 'birth tourism' scheme that saw 117 pregnant Turkish women pay up to $10k each to give birth on Long Island and secure US citizenship for their children

• Six suspects were charged by federal prosecutors in an indictment unveiled Wednesday for the 'birth tourism' plot
• The suspects consist of four Turkish nationals and two US citizens
•  They're charged with Medicaid fraud because part of the plot involved the women lying that they were indigent, forcing the government to shell out $2.1M 
• In total, 117 woman gave birth to 119 children under the scheme, Acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Seth D. DuCharme said 
• Despite their claims of poverty, all of the women were actually found to be of middle-class or upper-middle-class backgrounds, DuCharme said
• The government estimates that the defendants’ took approximately $750,000 in fees from Turkish aliens as part of the scheme. 
• A number of the women were flight attendants for Turkish airlines, officials said 
• The scheme has reportedly been running since at least January 2017