On January 27, a Chinese woman in California was sentenced to more than three years in prison for running a maternity center that assisted pregnant Chinese women in giving birth in the United States, automatically granting their babies American citizenship.
Judge R. Gary Klausner sentenced Phoebe Dong to 41 months in prison and ordered her immediate detention in a federal court in Los Angeles.
Dong and her husband Michael Liu were accused of conspiring and money laundering through their company “USA Happy Baby.” Last September, a federal court in Los Angeles found them guilty of one count of conspiracy and ten counts of money laundering.
The couple was among over ten individuals charged during the Obama administration in 2015 in relation to the so-called “birth tourism” scheme, which assists Chinese women in concealing their pregnancies when traveling to the US to give birth. Such businesses have long provided these services to people from China, Russia, Nigeria, and other countries.
According to the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, any child born in the US is a citizen. Many see giving birth in the US as a way to secure better educational opportunities and future for their children, as parents can also apply for permanent residency once the child turns 21.
Prosecutors requested Dong to be imprisoned for more than five years as she and her husband assisted over 100 pregnant Chinese women in traveling to the US. They stated that the couple worked with others to instruct these women on how to enter the US through less stringent airport checks and to wear loose clothing to conceal their pregnancies.
Prosecutors alleged that the “USA Happy Baby” maternity center operated by the couple aided hundreds of travelers in “birth tourism” from 2012 to 2015, charging them service fees as high as $40,000 and providing apartments for them in Los Angeles.
In December last year, Michael Liu was also sentenced to 41 months in prison. Dong’s lawyer requested for her to serve her sentence after Liu completes his term because they have three children, with the youngest being only 13 years old.
Federal prosecutor Kevin Fu agreed to a delayed trial, but Judge Klausner denied the request and immediately detained her.
Dong’s lawyer stated that the case of “USA Happy Baby” was part of an investigation into the “birth tourism” scheme in California, with another similar maternity center’s owner fleeing to China and the owner of “You Win USA Vacation Services” admitting to conspiracy and visa fraud in 2019, receiving a 10-month prison sentence.
The lawyer believed Dong’s longer sentence was attributed by the government and the judge to babies becoming US citizens, which the lawyer argued was unrelated to the accusations of Dong and Liu aiding Chinese pregnant women in giving birth in the US. He mentioned that Dong plans to appeal the verdict.
He argued that “birth tourism” is not a crime, with Chinese women traveling abroad through other companies’ assistance, and claimed that Dong helped them give birth in the US to avoid penalties under China’s one-child policy, thus should not be convicted.
However, federal prosecutors stated that Dong and Liu’s business model continuously “defrauded the US immigration authorities.”
US authorities emphasized that it is not illegal for foreign nationals to visit the US while pregnant, but it is illegal to falsely report the purpose of travel to consular and immigration officials on government documents.
This ruling comes at a time when birthright citizenship in the US is under scrutiny. In an effort to curb the abuse of US welfare programs by illegal immigrants, President Trump signed an executive order upon returning to the White House, attempting to narrow the definition of birthright citizenship. However, a federal judge in Seattle, Washington deemed the executive order “unconstitutional” and issued a temporary restraining order on January 23, preventing the Trump administration from enforcing the order nationwide for the next 14 days.
(This article referenced reports from The Associated Press)