Pregnant Russian nationals detained at Buenos Aires airport have been released

Six pregnant Russian citizens, who were detained by Argentina immigration authorities at an airport in Buenos Aires, have been allowed to enter the country, says Christian Rubilar, lawyer to three of the women.

One of the detainees confirmed the information, telling Russian state broadcaster RBC “At the moment, everyone has gone to hotels. Everything is okay, they gave our passports back, stamped them, and let us go. I’m in the city now, trying to work out where to stay.”

On February 10, Russian outlets reported that pregnant Russian nationals trying to enter Argentina had been detained at the airport, suspected of traveling with the intent to give birth in the country and secure birthright citizenship for their children. Parents of a citizen of Argentina can apply for permanent residence and, eventually, citizenship.

Florencia Carignano, the head of Argentina’s migration services, said that more than 10,000 pregnant Russian nationals have arrived in Argentina in the past year, but that most of them are no longer in the country. She said that the unusually large number of pregnant tourists made immigration authorities decide to question some of them. “The problem is these people come, and then they leave with Argentinian passports, which give them the ability to travel to 171 countries without a visa and get a U.S. visa in 10 years. So let’s look at who we give a passport to, because the losers will be Argentines,” Carignano said.

RIA Novosti reports that Argentina has begun to suspend and cancel the residence permits of Russian nationals who obtained legal residency following the birth of a child, but who did not remain in the country.