A Fort Bend County judge has signed an agreement Sept. 18 permanently shutting down Houston-area birthing center, De’Ai Postpartum Care Center. The Texas Attorney General’s Office alleged the business was facilitating “birth tourism” practices.
A Fort Bend County district court judge signed an agreement on Friday permanently shutting down a Houston-area postpartum care center accused of facilitating “birth tourism.” The closure came as Republican leaders in Texas pushed ahead with efforts to crack down on what they call an exploitation of the United States’ immigration system.
Attorney General Ken Paxton originally brought the lawsuit against De’Ai Postpartum Care Center in April, claiming the center was promoting “birth tourism” packages to Chinese nationals.
De’Ai allegedly facilitated more than 1,000 births. The center operated at least four residential properties in several Fort Bend County cities including Richmond, Rosenberg and Sugar Land, as well as an apartment complex in Houston, according to Paxton’s lawsuit.
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Paxton argued the clients travelled to the U.S. to give birth so their children would receive citizenship. He called the closure a “legal victory.”
“I will do everything in my power to stop foreign nationals from unlawfully exploiting our immigration system through the scam of ‘birth tourism,’” Paxton said on social media on Sept. 18. “This operation helped Chinese foreign nationals come to Texas to evade our laws.”
The settlement prohibits the owners, Lin Suling and Lai Wan Lin-Chan, from operating birthing-related businesses, providing medical services, engaging in immigration coaching or helping foreign nationals obtain visas.
De’Ai’s attorney, Eric Nichols, declined to be interviewed. According to court documents, the defendants denied the allegations.
Under the settlement, the defendants waived their rights to appeal. The filing shows they participated in negotiations that led to the agreement. Court documents also indicate the Attorney General’s Office requested data from the center’s social media accounts, including TikTok, which the state alleged were used to promote the center’s services abroad.
Birthright citizenship has been at the center of a national legal fight since President Donald Trump signed an executive order in August seeking to end automatic citizenship for certain children born in the United States. A federal district court has since blocked Trump’s effort.
Republican leaders in Texas have since pushed ahead with efforts to crack down on alleged “birth tourism.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state would work hand-in-hand with the Trump administration to investigate the practice and report the findings to the U.S. Department of Justice.