Houston, Texas – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R‑Texas) announced Friday that the De’Ai Postpartum Care Center, a Houston‑area facility alleged to have helped Chinese foreign nationals travel to Texas to give birth and obtain U.S. citizenship for their children, has agreed to shut down.
Legal action leads to proposed injunction
According to a filing in Fort Bend County District Court on September 18, the center and its operators, Lin Suling and Lai Wan Lin‑Chan, consented to a permanent injunction that will end all business activities. The court’s proposed final judgment requires the facility to cease facilitating births and to stop coaching foreign nationals on how to evade immigration restrictions.
Paxton’s office hailed the settlement as a “legal victory” and emphasized the administration’s commitment to protecting the immigration system from exploitation. “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. “This operation helped Chinese foreign nationals come to Texas to evade our laws. Now, we have shut it down.”
Allegations and alleged practices
The state’s civil petition, filed in April, alleged that the center primarily marketed its services to Chinese clients and claimed responsibility for more than 1,000 American‑born babies. Prosecutors said the operation used at least four Houston‑area properties and advised clients to apply for visas “before pregnancy” to reduce scrutiny, a practice the State Department says is not a permissible basis for a visitor visa.
Paxton’s lawsuit accused De’Ai and its operators of deceptive trade practices, tampering with governmental records, unlawful harboring and concealment, and other violations of Texas law. The operators denied the allegations in court filings prior to the proposed injunction.
Impact on citizenship and future investigations
The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Texas case targeted the center’s alleged business and immigration‑related conduct, not the citizenship status of children already born.
Paxton’s office also indicated that investigations are ongoing into Mission Regional Medical Center and Knapp Medical Center in South Texas over separate birth‑tourism allegations.
Community response
Local residents and advocacy groups expressed relief that a facility they viewed as exploiting the immigration system has been shut down. Many highlighted the importance of enforcing immigration laws while ensuring that legitimate medical services remain available to Texas families.
The closure of De’Ai Postpartum Care Center underscores the Texas Attorney General’s focus on protecting the integrity of the state’s immigration framework and preventing the misuse of U.S. citizenship pathways.
Original reporting: The Dallas Express — read the source article.
