On Friday, September 18, an institution located in the Houston area was officially shut down after being sued by the state of Texas for allegedly participating in illegal “birth tourism” activities.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Friday that the court had ruled in their favor, ordering the De’Ai Postpartum Care Center and its operators to cease operations and stop assisting in childbirth.
“I will do everything in my power to prevent foreign citizens from illegally exploiting birth tourism scams and manipulating the U.S. immigration system,” Paxton declared. “This institution was helping Chinese citizens come to Texas and circumvent our laws. Today, we have shut it down.”
The state Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit in April 2026, accusing the postpartum care center of illegally assisting Chinese citizens in violating laws by entering Texas to give birth and obtaining U.S. citizenship for their newborns through the use of the American “birthright citizenship.”
Paxton stated that this action violated Texas laws, including the Texas Penal Code.
According to court documents, the operators of the postpartum care center are Lin Suling and Lai Wan Lin-Chan.
The Attorney General mentioned that over the past 20 years, the center had assisted over 1,000 babies in being born in the U.S. It primarily advertised its maternity services to Chinese clients through popular social media platforms and websites in China.
The center also provided guidance on U.S. immigration procedures to clients, teaching them how to circumvent immigration laws when applying for visas and citizenship for themselves and their children.
For example, the center is accused of encouraging Chinese citizens to illegally enter or overstay in the U.S. and concealing their primary purpose of travel as childbirth. Furthermore, the operators of the center were aware that U.S. visas cannot be obtained for the purpose of “birth tourism,” yet they informed clients that the U.S. federal government was “strictly” cracking down on such activities and advised women to apply for visas before becoming pregnant to reduce the risk of being found out.
Investigations show that the “De’Ai Postpartum Care Center” operated in at least four different properties located in Sugar Land, Houston, Richmond, and Rosenberg. Each property typically accommodated multiple families simultaneously, facilitating the birth of up to 20 babies per day.