Rather be in Namibia?

I confess: I love celebrity watching. I don’t go searching out super-star fan sites or gossip columns, but if star-tracker info crosses my path, I enjoy some good escapist fun.

That said, I’m really marveling at the irony of Angelina Jolie choosing to give birth in Namibia. How many Namibians would prefer to give birth in the United States? If Angelina Jolie delivers in Namibia, is her child a Namibian citizen? Is it guaranteed the fundamental rights of all Namibian children?

I don’t mean to say that there’s anything wrong with giving birth in Namibia, but for many other people in the world, emigrating to the United States is a lifelong dream. Delivering a child in the United States represents the culmination of a journey for many non-Americans, securing the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In northern Mexico, women in labor try to sneak into the United States in order to get caught. After being apprehended by U.S. border agents, women are taken to hospitals on the U.S. side to deliver their babies. Risking the dangers of giving birth in the desert is worthwhile to these women just for the chance to give their children the gift of U.S. citizenship. While women struggle to birth their babies in America, Angelina Jolie’s will arrive in Namibia.

I don’t begrudge Angelina Jolie her freedom of choice, but it seems so opposite of the values other world citizens place on belonging to the U.S. I wonder if she’ll receive the same maternity treatment Mexican women are given in the United States while she is in Namibia.