A growing number of expectant mothers are among the migrants pouring in daily from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador even Haiti to more than 30 already overflowing shelters in Tijuana, Mexico.
More women are arriving pregnant or with babies, said pastor Gustavo Banda of the Embajadores de Jes繳s (Ambassadors of Jesus) church, which operates a shelter in Ca簽籀n del Alacr獺n (Scorpions Canyon) on the outskirts of Tijuana. We have a lot of Haitian women and some Central American.
Some women also get pregnant while they wait.
These pregnant women are stuck here because the Trump administrations program requires some U.S.-bound asylum applicants to register at ports of entry and then return to Mexican border cities to wait as their claims are processed.
Its a period of great anxiety, if only because many want their children born in the United States. The Constitution guarantees that every child born on American soil automatically becomes a U.S. citizen.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly condemned so-called , arguing that many migrants use these children to establish a foothold to help them gain legal status.
Last fall, he an executive order that would nullify . He hasnt followed through, and constitutional scholars of the 14th Amendment say an executive order birthright citizenship.
Mexico offers birthright citizenship, but its as the American version.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection keeps no record of how many pregnant women have applied for asylum, but Mexican shelters report the number is rising.
As the days, weeks and months pass while these women wait, obtaining prenatal care is difficult. They rely primarily on volunteer medical workers for their checkups, sonograms, ultrasounds and prenatal vitamins. Inconsistent prenatal care leaves them vulnerable to miscarriage and other complications.
Some shelters schedule visits from doctors and nurses, while others coordinate care with local clinics.
But the biggest health challenge these women face is finding a place to deliver their babies in Mexico if theyre still waiting for their asylum cases to be heard.
To give birth in a Mexican hospital, they must sign up for the health insurance program Medicaid in the U.S. But to qualify for an in-hospital birth, they must have obtained an ultrasound, which has been a difficult requirement for most of these women to meet, said Phil Ca簽ete, clinic coordinator for the nonprofit Refugee Health Alliance.
Issues like language, transportation and knowledge of local resources create barriers for adequate prenatal care or proper delivery, Ca簽ete said.
California Healthlines Heidi de Marco met with two pregnant migrant women who are waiting in limbo in Tijuana shelters.
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