Woman jailed for helping Chinese women travel to give birth in US
Woman jailed for helping Chinese women travel to give birth in US
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California woman gets 41 months as birthright citizenship is thrust into spotlight with Trump’s return to White House. A California woman was sentenced on Monday to more than three years in prison in a long-running case over a business that helped pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States to deliver babies who automatically became American citizens.
R Gary Klausner, a US district judge, gave Phoebe Dong a 41-month sentence. Dong and her husband were convicted in September of conspiracy and money laundering through their company, USA Happy Baby. During the sentencing hearing in federal court in Los Angeles, Dong wiped away tears as she recalled growing up without siblings due to China’s strict “one-child” policy. She told the federal court in Los Angeles that the Chinese government forced her mother to have an abortion.
Federal prosecutors argued that Dong and her now separated husband Michael Liu helped more than 100 pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States. Authorities said the pair coached women on how to trick customs officials by flying into airports believed to be more lax while wearing loose-fitting clothing to hide their pregnancies.
“For tens of thousands of dollars each, defendant helped her numerous customers deceive US authorities and buy US citizenship for their children,” prosecutors said in court filings. Federal prosecutors declined to comment after the sentencing. Dong told the court that moving to the United States had been challenging but that she grew hopeful after having three children of her own. She became an American citizen and said she saw she could help Chinese women seeking to have additional children near her home in California.
