LOS ANGELES — A jury on Friday found a Southern California couple guilty of running a business that helped pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States without disclosing their plans to have babies who would automatically become U.S. citizens.
Michael Liu and Phoebe Dong were found guilty in a federal court in Los Angeles on one count of conspiracy and ten counts of money laundering.
The case against the pair came nine years after federal authorities sought more than a dozen homes in Southern California in a crackdown on so-called birth tourism providers. Authorities say the providers encouraged pregnant women to lie on their visas and hide their pregnancies, and helped the women travel to the United States to give birth.
Liu and Dong were charged in 2019 along with more than a dozen others, including a woman who later pleaded guilty to running a company called “You Win USA” and convicted up to 10 months in prison.
Prosecutors and lawyers for the suspects declined to comment in court on Friday.
Prosecutors alleged that Liu and Dong’s company, USA Happy Baby, served hundreds of birth tourists between 2012 and 2015, charging the tourists up to $40,000 for services including renting apartments during their stays in Southern California.
Prosecutors allege the pair worked with foreign agencies that coached women on what to say during visa interviews and to authorities upon arrival at U.S. airports, advised them to wear loose clothing to hide pregnancies and to avoid “waddling like a penguin.”
“Their business model always involved misleading U.S. immigration authorities,” federal prosecutor Kevin Fu told jurors during closing arguments.
During the trial, defense attorneys for the couple — now divorced — said prosecutors failed to connect their clients to the women in China and that they only provided services while they were in the United States. Kevin Cole, an attorney for Liu, said the government failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt or connect his client to communications with the pregnant tourists in China.
John McNicholas, representing Dong, argued that birth tourism is not a crime. He said the women traveled abroad with the help of other companies, not his client’s, and that Dong was helping women who would have faced penalties under China’s one-child policy if they returned to give birth at home.
“It is an admirable task that she is taking on. It should not be criminalized,” he said.
Birth tourism companies have long operated in California and other states, serving couples not only from China but also from Russia, Nigeria and elsewhere. It is not illegal to visit the United States while pregnant, but authorities said lying to consular and immigration officials about the purpose of a trip on government documents is not allowed.
The main draw for travelers is that the United States offers birthright citizenship, which many believe can help their children get an American college education and provide a kind of insurance policy for the future — especially since tourists themselves can apply for permanent residency once their American child turns 21.
Liu and Dong are expected to be sentenced on December 9.
