The “maternity tourism” sites included apartment complexes in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties where authorities believe the businesses housed the foreign nationals about to give birth, federal officials said.
A Chinese woman, a federal witness in an ongoing investigation into the birth tourism industry, is under arrest after trying to leave the U.S. with her newborn American son.googleoff: all
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Ying Wu, 31, was taken into custody April 15 at Los Angeles International Airport by Homeland Security Investigations agents as she, her husband and the baby prepared to board a plane to Beijing.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Her arrest comes amid a large-scale federal investigation of several Southern California companies accused of persuading pregnant Chinese women to lie on visa applications so their babies can be born on U.S. soil.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
At least one company seems to be continuing to solicit such business, with a website that’s active in Taiwan. The websites for other companies connected to the early March crackdown aren’t active.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Wu is a material witness in the government’s case. She was arrested after being ordered to remain in the U.S., Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, said.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Approximately two dozen women have been retained as material witnesses.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Wu, who on Friday appeared in a Santa Ana federal court, is free on a $10,000 unsecured bond. She is under house arrest at an undisclosed location, wearing a GPS monitoring device, Mrozek said.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Her husband, who has not been identified, and their baby also remain in the U.S., Mrozek added.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
The arrest has been upsetting for Wu, said her Newport Beach attorney, T. Edward Welbourn.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
“She is in some turmoil right now ... She wants to return to her family,” Welbourn said Wednesday.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Wu’s arrest follows a March raid by federal agents of about three dozen residences in Irvine, Mission Viejo, Rancho Cucamonga, Rowland Heights and Walnut connected to the burgeoning maternity tourism industry.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Authorities are looking for evidence of visa and tax fraud, money laundering and conspiracy involving three suspected maternity tourism companies, You Win USA Vacation Resort, USA Happy Baby Inc. and Star Baby Care. No charges have been filed against any company.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
“Our focus is doing forensics on computers and a broad array of documents,” Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said. “We have interviewed a significant number of witnesses and are in the process of culling through the evidence.”googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Star Baby Care is the only one of the three companies with an active website. On Wednesday, the site touted Irvine as an exceptional place for mothers to give birth, mentioning the city’s low crime rate and proximity to shopping and restaurants.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
The residences raided in March housed women believed to have each paid tens of thousands of dollars to maternity tourism companies that promoted American citizenship, free education and other perks for U.S.-born babies.