Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced the imminent closure of a birth tourism center in the state.
Such organizations help foreign individuals to arrange for the births of their children within the United States, often using surrogate mothers, in such a way as to secure U.S. citizenship for the child. That way is routinely deceptive. The child’s U.S. citizenship may then come in handy later for a foreign father who resides in, say, the People’s Republic of China and has perhaps never set foot in the United States.
In April 2026, Paxton sued a “Houston-area ‘birth tourism’ operation known as De’Ai Postpartum Care Center for unlawfully facilitating the invasion of Chinese nationals into Texas for the sole purpose of birthing children and obtaining ‘birthright citizenship’ in a manner that violates Texas law, including the Texas Penal Code” (Texasattorneygeneral.com, April 29, 2026).
Birth tourism purposes
Paxton’s office reported at the time that the Center was teaching Chinese nationals how to “enter or remain in the U.S. unlawfully by concealing the fact that the primary purpose of such travel is to give birth.
“To make matters worse, operators of the Center were aware that U.S. visas are prohibited for birth tourism purposes. In fact, just last week, the Center noted that the federal government is ‘strictly’ policing birth tourism and recommended that women apply for visas ‘before pregnancy’ in order to avoid detection.”
Now the attorney general has reported, on X, that his lawsuit has succeeded and the De’Ai Center will be shut down.
“The Center will cease its operations and stop facilitating births [and will also stop] the practice of coaching foreign nationals on how to evade immigration laws to enter the United States for the purpose of giving birth.”
Also see:
Texasattorneygeneral.gov: The State of Texas v. De’Ai Postpartum Care Center (April 29, 2026)
“In the present matter, Defendants have engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to violate § 37.10 by preparing visa applications and supporting documentation, and otherwise coaching Chinese nationals to prepare such applications and materials, falsely claiming tourism as the primary purpose of their travel to the United States when completing Form DS-160, when, in fact, Defendants know that the primary purpose of such travel is to give birth to a child in the United States, in order to secure citizenship for the child.”
StoptheCCP.org: “ ‘That’ll be 200 surrogate babies, please’ ”