The state of Texas has filed a lawsuit against a Houston-area “birth tourism” operation that the attorney general’s office said has claimed responsibility for “[1,000-plus] American-born babies.”
The suit alleges that the long-standing “birth tourism” operation primarily helped foreign nationals from China travel to Texas to give birth in order to secure U.S. citizenship for their children.
“America is for Americans, not foreigners trying to cheat the system to claim citizenship,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement on April 29. “The Center’s scheme not only facilitated an invasion of Texas, but it also involved shielding and facilitating violations of immigration law. Birthright citizenship is a scam that threatens national security, and I will do everything in my power to stop unlawful ‘birth tourism’ schemes like this one.”
Investigators said the operation ran across multiple properties in the Houston area, including locations in Sugar Land, Houston, Richmond, and Rosenberg. The facilities housed multiple families at once and, according to the state, were capable of facilitating a high volume of births tied to the business—up to 20 births per day, according to the attorney general’s statement.
The De’Ai Postpartum Care Center, named in the complaint, does not appear to have a website. A message left at the center’s phone number was not immediately returned on April 29.
The attorney general’s office claimed that the center “coaches clients on how to navigate immigration procedures and evade immigration laws when seeking visas and citizenship for themselves and their child.”
The coaching allegedly includes encouraging Chinese nationals to enter or remain in the United States by concealing the fact that the primary purpose of their travel is to give birth, which Paxton’s office said is unlawful.
“To make matters worse, operators of the Center were aware that U.S. visas are prohibited for birth tourism purposes,“ Paxton’s office stated. ”In fact, just last week, the Center noted that the federal government is ‘strictly’ policing birth tourism and recommended that women apply for visas ‘before pregnancy’ in order to avoid detection.”
The lawsuit claims that an expectant family can spend tens of thousands of dollars on the services offered by the center. Once a child born in the center turns 21, that child can petition for permanent residency of their parents and siblings.
Marketing for the industry is done through social media platforms, private messaging applications, word of mouth, and via Chinese websites or behind private and state-sponsored firewalls, the lawsuit states.
Since January 24, 2020, the United States has expressly denied tourist travel “for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States to obtain citizenship for the child,” and has maintained that all birth tourism visa applications “will be denied,” according to the lawsuit.
