Argentina Cracks Down on Pregnant Russians Trying To Get Argentinian Citizenship

Pregnant Russian women are flocking to Argentina in an effort to obtain Argentinian citizenship for their children. However, Argentina seems to have caught on to this practice and has now started cracking down on these would-be Russian tourists.

The number of pregnant Russians going to Argentina has increased since the country invaded Ukraine last year. Authorities believe this is connected to the invasion, as it has forced many Russians to face sanctions in other countries or find it harder to enter other countries with a Russian passport.

The effort is similar to the practice of "Anchor Babies" used by Hispanic immigrants to the United States where they give birth in the country so their babies become U.S. citizens, making it harder to deport them. However, this one is with Russians with their own "Anchor Babies" trying to get Argentinian citizenship for their children.

According to the BBC, over 5,000 pregnant Russian women have entered Argentina in recent months. This includes a single flight that contained 33 pregnant Russians. Three of them were detained by Argentine authorities because they had problems with documentation.

These Russian women initially claim they are tourists but that is not their real purpose. The head of Argentina's migration agency, Florencia Carignano, stated that these women acknowledged that while they officially declare as tourists, they did not come to Argentina for tourism.

"The problem is that they come to Argentina, sign up their children as Argentinean, and leave. Our passport is very secure across the world. It allows [passport-holders] to enter 171 countries visa-free," said Carignano.

In Argentina, all those born in the country are automatically granted Argentinian citizenship, and the country has become a magnet for Russian women who are about to give birth as Russians can enter the country without visa.

Mafia Groups May Be Involved in Pregnant Russians Going to Argentina

Carignano also stated that the influx of pregnant Russian women to Argentina may be the work of mafia groups.

She stated, "mafia organizations were profiting by offering packages to obtain our passports to people who do not actually want to reside in our country."

The immigration official stated that they interviewed around 350 of these women and discovered that an organization is helping people, particularly Russian women in the advanced state of pregnancy, to travel to Argentina. She called it a "birth tourism package with the Argentine passport as the main reason for the trip" and Russians are paying large sums of money for it, according to Reuters.

Some of These Women May Be Russian Spies, Says Report

According to The Times of Israel, some of these women may also be spies as Carignano admitted that some of them raised red flags in immigration offices when three Russian spies were detained in Slovenia with Argentine passports.

The incident happened in late January and was reported in Slovenian media. Two of the alleged Russian spies were arrested in the country and one of them held Argentinian citizenship.

"If we don't start to control who we give passports to what's going to happen to us Argentines is that they're going to start asking for visas everywhere and the passport will no longer have the trust that it has with other countries," Carignano said.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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