If so then why isn't the mainstream picking it up?

There are no statistics about which countries have citizens who participate in birth tourism in the United States. Politically conservative lawyer and author, A.J. Delgado wrote in his article for the National Review, that an average of 60 women travel from Russia to Florida to give birth in a single 'maternity hotel' every month.[2] The Center for Health Care Statistics estimates that there were 7,462 births to foreign residents in the United States in 2008, the most recent year for which statistics are available. That is a small fraction of the roughly 4.3 million total births that year.[3] The Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that favors limits on immigration, estimates that there are approximately 40,000 annual births to parents in the United States as birth tourists.[4][5] However, total births to temporary immigrants in the United States (e.g., tourists, students, guest workers) could be as high as 200,000.[6]

One option for mainland Chinese mothers to give birth is Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, where the cost is cheaper and travel does not require a U.S. visa.[7] More than 70% of the newborns in Saipan have birth tourist PRC parents who take advantage of the 45-day visa-free visitation rules of the territory and the Covenant of the Northern Mariana Islands to ensure that their children can have American citizenship.[8]

Numerous "maternity businesses" advise pregnant mothers to hide their pregnancies from officials and even commit visa fraud—lying to customs agents about their true purpose in the U.S.[9] Once they give birth, several 'birth tourism' agencies aid the mothers in defrauding the U.S. hospital, taking advantage of discounts reserved for impoverished American mothers.[10][11] Some mothers will refuse to pay the bill for the medical care received during their hospital stay.[12]

On October 18, 2014, the North American Chinese language Daily World Journal reported that for several weeks the immigration authorities at LAX had been closely questioning pregnant Chinese women arriving there from China, and in many cases denying them entry to the United States and repatriating them within 12 hours, often on the same airplane on which they had flown to the United States.[13] In March 2015, federal agents conducted raids on a series of large-scale maternity tourism operations bringing thousands of mainland Chinese women intent on giving their children American citizenship.[14][15] Congressional representatives such as Phil Gingrey, who have tried to put an end to birth tourism, said these people are "gaming the system".[16] In August 2015, the issue was discussed among U.S. presidential candidates, including Donald Trump and Jeb Bush.

Congress Considers Changes

Over the last few decades, many of those few countries with automatic birthright citizenship policies have changed their law as a means of discouraging illegal immigration and to give citizens more control over the future of their societies. The countries that have ended the practice in recent years include the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, India, Malta, New Zealand, and the Dominican Republic. Barbados and Antigua & Barbuda may also be ending the practice as the nations look for ways to cope with illegal immigration.

In the United States, birthright citizenship has been the subject of congressional hearings and proposed legislation for at least the past two decades.