Hong Kong airline forces a woman to do a pregnancy test before flying to Saipan

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An American Airlines passenger is forced to cover herself (July 2019) 0:30

Hong Kong (CNN) - A Hong Kong-based airline apologized after requiring a passenger to have a test to prove she was not pregnant before boarding a flight to the island of Saipan in the U.S. Pacific.

The low-cost airline Hong Kong Express was criticized after a 25-year-old Japanese woman said the airline staff required her to take a “flying fitness” assessment, which included a pregnancy test, when she was doing the Check-in for a flight at the Hong Kong International Airport.

"It was very humiliating and frustrating," he told the Wall Street Journal , adding that the airline said the test was required in women "who had the size or body shape similar to that of a pregnant woman."

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The report says that airline personnel accompanied her to a bath and gave her a pregnancy test, preventing her from boarding until the test was negative.

"We would like to apologize for the anguish caused," said the airline, which was acquired by Cathay Pacific in July last year, in a statement to CNN.

The statement said the airline was under pressure from authorities in Saipan to step up passenger controls.

"We have taken measures on flights to Saipan since February 2019 to help ensure that US immigration laws are not undermined," he said.

“Under our new administration, we recognize the important concerns that this practice has caused. We have immediately suspended the practice while reviewing it. ”

Birth tourism

Saipan, part of the American Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, has become a favorite destination for “birth tourism”: the practice of foreigners giving birth on American soil to ensure that their babies become citizens Americans

This is due in large part to its immigration policy other than the continental US, which allows citizens of some countries, such as China, to visit without a visa, although they would need it for other parts of the US. .UU.

In recent years, birth tourism has become so rampant in the community that more babies are born from tourists than from their permanent residents.

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In 2018, tourists gave birth to 582 babies on the islands, while only 492 were born as permanent residents, according to figures from the Office of Vital Statistics and Health of Mariana del Norte. Chinese tourists accounted for the majority of births: of the 582 of that year, 575 involved Chinese citizens.

The Northern Mariana Islands had a population of just over 50,000, according to US Census estimates. in 2018.

The popularity of birth tourism in Saipan has led authorities to take measures, such as pressuring airlines to control passengers. In July, the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth also passed a resolution that seeks to limit citizenship by birthright in the islands.

In the US In the US, the legal principle of jus soli automatically confers citizenship to babies born in the United States. Although there is no federal law prohibiting tourists who are pregnant from entering the United States or giving birth in their territory, the country has previously arrested people who carried out “birth tourism” operations for conspiracy to commit immigration fraud and visa fraud.