Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday that his lawsuit has shut down a “birth tourism” company that specialized in helping Chinese women game the immigration system and travel to the U.S. to have babies for automatic citizenship.
De’Ai Postpartum Care Center had boasted of helping more than 1,000 births in nearly 20 years.
Mr. Paxton called it a luxury service that operated four homes capable of facilitating up to 20 births a day.
The company would develop personalized immigration plans for high-paying customers, coaching them on how to avoid scrutiny as they sought tourist visas, faced in-person interviews and flew to the U.S., Mr. Paxton said.
The company and its two principals, Lin Suling and Lai Wan Lin-Chan, agreed in a settlement that they would no longer offer services or assist nonrelatives on travel to the U.S.
“This operation helped Chinese foreign nationals come to Texas to evade our laws. Now, we have shut it down,” Mr. Paxton said.
A lawyer for the firm declined to comment beyond the terms of the deal.
Mr. Paxton has been at the forefront of trying to shut down birth tourism operations, with investigations into several reputed cases.
His efforts kicked into higher gear after the Supreme Court ruled this summer that even children born to illegal immigrants and temporary visitors are entitled to automatic citizenship under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
President Trump had argued that amendment didn’t cover those categories and that he could alter the policy by executive order.
While that settled the citizenship issue for the children, authorities said it still left room to go after foreign women who traveled to the U.S. specifically to give birth along with the firms that facilitate it.
Federal authorities say coming just to give birth is not a valid reason for a travel visa, and those who do it are engaged in fraud.
Since 2020, the government has been on alert for such cases.
But birth tourism firms coach women on how to evade detection. They suggest airports where customs officers aren’t as strict, plus urge travel before pregnancies are visible.
With a renewed focus under the new Trump administration, De’Ai Postpartum Care Center urged women to make plans to apply for a travel visa even “before pregnancy,” Mr. Paxton said.
He brought his case in state court, saying the center violated Texas laws against deceptive business practices and inducing someone to break immigration laws.
De’Ai Postpartum Care Center advertised on Chinese social media platforms such as WeChat and Meipian, and on a Facebook page.
They also offered coaching videos on TikTok, covering topics such as how much money to bring to the U.S., which stages of pregnancy were best, and details of the American immigration system.
While waiting for the births, families are offered chauffeured black-car services to Houston-area attractions, Texas said.
Ms. Lin advertised herself as a “head nurse,” though Texas said she was not licensed to practice in the state.
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