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Thursday, February 13, 2025
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HomeInternational News‘Birth tourism’ organizer jailed for scheme to bring pregnant Chinese women to...

‘Birth tourism’ organizer jailed for scheme to bring pregnant Chinese women to U.S.

‘Birth tourism’ organizer jailed for scheme to bring pregnant Chinese women to U.S.

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A California woman was sentenced Monday to more than three years in prison in a long-running case involving a business that helped pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States to give birth to babies who would automatically become American citizens.

U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner sentenced Phoebe Dong to 41 months in prison and ordered her immediately taken into custody in his federal court in Los Angeles. Dong and her husband were convicted in September of conspiracy and money laundering through their company, USA Happy Baby.

The sentence comes as U.S. birthright citizenship has been challenged since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. After taking office, Trump issued an executive order narrowing the definition of birthright citizenship, which was quickly blocked by a federal judge who called it “strangely unconstitutional.”

Dong and her husband, Michael Liu, were among more than a dozen people charged in connection with so-called “birth tourism” schemes that helped Chinese women hide their pregnancies while traveling to the United States to give birth during the Obama era. Such businesses have long operated in various states and serve people in China, Russia, Nigeria and elsewhere.

Under the 14th Amendment, any child born in the United States is an American citizen. Many saw the trips as a way to help their children get a U.S. college education and a better future — especially since travelers can apply for permanent residency once their children turn 21.

Dong wiped away tears as she recalled growing up without siblings due to China’s strict “one-child” policy and told the court that the Chinese government forced her mother to have an abortion. She said moving to the United States was challenging, but Dong found hope after having her own children and saw that she could help Chinese women who wanted to have additional children in California.

“I don’t want to lose my children,” she told the court. “I hope you can give me a fair trial. I take full responsibility for my actions.”

Federal prosecutors had sought a sentence of more than five years for Dong, arguing that she and Liu helped more than 100 pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States. They said the couple worked with others to train the women to trick customs officials by wearing loose-fitting clothes to hide their pregnancies and flying them to airports they believed were more lax.

“For tens of thousands of dollars, the defendant helped many of her clients deceive U.S. authorities into purchasing U.S. citizenship for their children,” prosecutors said in court filings. They declined to comment after sentencing.

Liu was sentenced in December to 41 months in prison. Dong’s attorney, John McNicholas, had asked that Liu serve her time behind bars because of her three children. The youngest daughter is 13.

Federal prosecutor Kevin Fu agreed to the delay, but Klausner took her into custody immediately. Dong took off a necklace and gave it to a family member and took her away.

The Happy Baby case in the United States was part of a broader investigation into businesses that helped Chinese women travel to California to give birth. The operator of another business is believed to have fled to China, McNicholas wrote in court filings, and the operator of another business, known as “You Win America,” pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy and visa fraud and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

McNicholas said Dong was given a long sentence because the government and Klausner are blaming her for babies born to U.S. citizens. He said it was unrelated to the charges that she and Liu helped women travel to the United States to give birth.

“Our position was that these children were born in America.” “They are citizens,” McNicholas said, adding that he was appealing to Dong. “It implies that just being born here is not enough.”

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