What's the first image that comes to your mind when you think of so-called “anchor babies” — children born in the U.S. to mostly illegal-immigrant parents? Right – “little brown ones,” to borrow the immortal words of President George H.W. Bush.

But that image doesn't really tell the whole story. In fact Chinese “upper class” women are coming to the United States, often via LAX, just to give birth to children who will be American citizens.

According to NPR, there's a new breed of anchor babies:

There is another group of people arriving in the United States to have children. But this group comes legally, often in first-class airline seats: mainland China's upper class.

A whole host of middlemen have sprung up in China to facilitate the booming trade, foremost of whom is Robert Zhou, a Taiwanese businessman.

For roughly $15,000, his company can arrange the hospital in Los Angeles, the doctor, the house and car rental, and any number of other extras for wealthy Chinese parents-to-be.

“What I'm trying to do is to help Chinese mothers to realize their American dream, at a fair and reasonable price. We're not encouraging pregnant women to go and get a U.S. visa. We say that if you already have a U.S. visa, and you're pregnant, you can take the opportunity to give birth in the U.S. So yes, it is a gray area in U.S. law,” Zhou says.

We're wondering if, in response to this report, the Minutemen will start patrolling LAX in search of Chinese women with baby bumps and Rolexes on their wrists.

Somehow we doubt it.

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