LOS ANGELES – (INT) - Two Rancho Cucamonga residents have been convicted of running a ‘birth tourism’ scheme.

Federal prosecutors accused the pair of charging their Chinese clients tens of thousands of dollars to help them give birth in the United States to obtain U.S. citizenship for their children.

Michael Liu, 59, and Jing Dong, 47, ran a maternity house in Rancho Cucamonga. For three years, the pair rented apartment units in Southern California to provide short-term housing and provided other services to pregnant women from China who traveled to the United States to give birth.
They later returned to China.

Liu and Dong advised their customers on how to hide their pregnancies from the immigration authorities. They also knew – or deliberately avoided learning – that their customers lied on their visa applications submitted to immigration authorities to enter the U.S.

The man and woman will be sentenced December 9th in US District Court in Los Angeles.

Story Date: September 20, 2024