Travel Agents Charged in Massive Crackdown of Chinese Birth Tourism Scheme

Santa Ana, California – Dongyuan Li was one of 20 people charged on Thursday in a Chinese birth tourism scheme, the Associated Press reported.

Li made millions of dollars by charging expectant Chinese women between $40,000 and $80,000 each to travel to California and stay in a posh apartment and give birth to an anchor baby.

Jing Dong and Michael Wei Yueh, who acted like travel agents and helped operate “USA Happy Baby” also were arrested.

The pregnant Chinese women seeking to give birth in the US were told their children would get a free education and later on down the line they could help their families immigrate too.

Via the AP:

All three pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges including conspiracy, visa fraud and money laundering, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles. Trials were scheduled for March 26.

More than a dozen others, including the operator of a third such business, also face charges but are believed to have returned to China, prosecutors said.

While it isn’t illegal to visit the United States while pregnant, authorities said the businesses — which were raided by federal agents in 2015 — touted the benefits of having U.S. citizen babies, who could get free public education and years later help their parents immigrate.

They also allegedly had women hide their pregnancies while seeking travel visas and lie about their plans, with one You Win USA customer telling consular officials she was going to visit a Trump hotel in Hawaii.

Birth tourism is a huge problem in the US and it has been plaguing the country for decades.

Many of these travel agent schemes are bringing pregnant women to the US from Russia, Nigeria and other countries.

Often times these birth tourism companies try to act as baby day cares to bypass questions about homes that are renovated outside of code and have excessive amounts of bedrooms and bathrooms.

Associated Press reported that Li paid in full for her $2.1 million home in Irvine, California, drove a brand new Mercedes-Benz and told an undercover fed who was posing as an expectant Chinese citizen that she would train her how to get by customs and interview for a visa.

There are well over 30 million illegal aliens currently living in the US and they are leeching off of welfare, food stamps and housing benefits and they are also voting.

Tom Fitton said, “Why would we allow citizenship for the children of birth tourists!”

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Cristina began writing for The Gateway Pundit in 2016 and she is now the Associate Editor.

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Thanks for sharing!