Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the De-Ai Postpartum Care Center in Houston, accusing it of running an illegal birth tourism operation that allegedly facilitated the birth of over 1,000 U.S. citizens to Chinese nationals over nearly two decades.
The lawsuit, which Paxton announced late Wednesday, claims the center advertised on Chinese social media platforms and coached clients on how to evade U.S. immigration laws, facilitating up to 20 births daily across four Houston-area properties. The center allegedly advised clients to conceal their true purpose for entering the United States and apply for visas before pregnancy to avoid detection.
The lawsuit states: “Tourist visas cannot be issued for this purpose. This is an unlawful scheme that perpetuates fraud on the government and violates Texas law. And Defendants know this.”
Paxton is seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief to shut down the operation. In a key statement, Paxton said: “America is for Americans, not foreigners trying to cheat the system to claim citizenship. Birthright citizenship is a scam that threatens national security.”
The lawsuit highlights ongoing concerns over birth tourism and the national security risks it presents, as well as the ease of exploiting U.S. immigration laws under the current status quo. President Donald J. Trump has attempted to curtail birthright citizenship—the internationally unusual doctrine that almost anyone born on U.S. soil has an automatic right to U.S. citizenship even if their parents are in the country illegally—by executive order, with the Supreme Court currently deliberating on the lawfulness of his reforms.
