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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Federal agents raid 20 suspected 'maternity hotels' in California

    Federal agents raid 20 suspected 'maternity hotels' in California




    • MAR. 3, 2015, 1:29 PM


    AP Photo/Gregory Bull
    In this March 30, 2012 photo, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent waits with other agents outside of the home of a suspect before dawn as part of a nationwide immigration sweep in San Diego.


    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Federal agents raided about 20 Southern California locations on Tuesday suspected of involvement in "maternity tourism" schemes offering travel and lodging services to pregnant foreign women seeking to give birth in the United States, U.S. immigration officials said.

    Authorities say the so-called maternity hotels targeted in the sweep catered largely to women from China who paid $15,000 to $50,000, depending on services provided, in hopes of obtaining U.S. citizenship for their children.


    Based on the results of previous investigations, the women apparently pay cash for pre-natal medical treatment and actual delivery of their babies, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, or ICE.


    The locations searched included apartment complexes and other sites in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties that were suspected of housing foreign clients, ICE said.


    No criminal arrests were anticipated from Tuesday's raids, but investigators were seeking evidence related to such possible criminal offenses as visa and tax fraud, money laundering and conspiracy, according to the agency.


    Any women encountered at the locations raided on Wednesday were to be interviewed, and those identified as potential material witnesses will be instructed where and when to report for further questioning, ICE said.


    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-fed...#ixzz3TMF9jzP2
    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 03-05-2015 at 04:31 PM.
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Dr. Manny: 'Birthing tourism' not just a federal issue, it's medical too

    By Dr. Manny Alvarez
    Published March 03, 2015 FoxNews.com



    Over the past five years or so I have noticed a growing trend in my delivery rooms, with new mothers asking almost immediately after I deliver their child, “How fast can I get the birth certificate?”


    As many of you know, I deliver babies in the New York tri-state area. For years now, I have been amazed by the number of international women who arrive at Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia International Airport nearly full-term. They are then whisked off to nearest hospital ready to deliver their baby in America, gaining their child U.S. citizenship in the process.


    I don’t know how these women are medically cleared to travel in such a state, and many times, I am sure that they attempt to conceal their pregnancy. As a practicing high-risk OB-GYN, the most frightening element of this trend is that it creates a dangerous scenario for the mother-to-be, baby and medical staff. The attending medical staff is dealing with very little medical information and almost no knowledge of what kind of prenatal care the pregnant woman has received.


    Despite these dangers, and the fact that the practice is not new, there hasn’t been anything done to prevent it, which is why it did not surprise me to read the article “Feds crack down on Chinese ‘birth tourism,’” by Fox’s William La Jeunesse on our website. In it, he details a raid by federal officials in Southern California who served warrants at “Chinese birthing houses” or “maternity hotels.”

    According to the article, wealthy Chinese couples were paying up to $80,000 to have their child born in the U.S., guaranteeing them U.S. citizenship.


    This practice presents a rare ethical dilemma for us in the medical field. What makes it hard is that for physicians who really care about neonatal outcomes and minimizing internal injuries, these types of deliveries are putting both women and children in harm’s way. I will never deny obstetrical care to a patient who shows up at my doorstep, it is my bound duty to give them the best care that I can. But I am being asked to play a part in a script that I did not write.


    We know that our immigration policy in America is broken, and I understand that the federal government is already trying to deal with the millions of illegal immigrats already here. But if we don’t find ways to protect humans from themselves, things will only get worse before they get better.


    Political and economic conditions around this planet of ours are quite unstable, so I understand why parents do want to seek a U.S. birth certificate for their children. But I also know from personal experience in my practice, that there are parents who, as soon as their child receives citizenship, return to their native homeland. For what purpose, I do not know, but there are many American children who spend just a few weeks in their country before being brought back to their parents’ native homeland.


    This is not a way to grow a nation, and it’s certainly something that medical societies and federal agencies must address. Women need protection, children need protection, but our health care system needs protection too.

    http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/0...cmp=latestnews

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    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    No criminal arrests were anticipated from Tuesday's raids, but investigators were seeking evidence related to such possible criminal offenses as visa and tax fraud, money laundering and conspiracy, according to the agency.
    Oh, so no crimes were committed. This was just an exploratory raid, what they call on Law and Order, a fishing expedition. What's the issue? That a bunch of rich Chinese visitors came here on visas to drop some anchor babies? What's the problem? A bunch of Mexican illegal aliens who came here illegally without visas are doing the same thing, and we're handing them tax credits, Medicaid, welfare, work authorizations, amnesty, deferred action, low income housing, food stamps, free school lunch and ..... oh yeah, a path to citizenship.

    I guess the difference is the Chinese came here legally and paid their own way. Well damn them all to hell! We don't want any people coming here with money in their pockets who abide our laws and pay their own way. Hell No! We want criminals who come here illegally and do not pay their own way, because this is how we become the World's Largest Banana Republic and the Biggest Pig Sty on the Planet.

    Transformation, folks. That's what we want. Transformation. A new country of losers within our country of winners that plants "seedlings" of losers who "navigate" through our winners to infect US with failure.

    Oh yes, the New America Nirvana: F. A. I. L. U. R. E.
    Last edited by Judy; 03-04-2015 at 01:46 AM.
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Federal Agents Carry Out Search For Evidence Of Illegal Support For 'Birth Tourism'

    MARCH 04, 2015 6:22 AM ET
    NATHAN ROTT

    Listen to the Story
    Morning Edition
    3 min 33 sec





    Federal agents searched more than three dozen locations across three counties in Southern California yesterday for evidence of "maternity tourism" operations.

    Maternity tourism — or birth tourism — is when a citizen of another country travels to the U.S. to give birth, so the child automatically receives U.S. citizenship.


    That in itself is not illegal. But federal authorities are investigating several businesses that may be breaking the law by helping wealthy Chinese women obtain U.S. visas under false pretenses.


    Claude Arnold is the lead investigator for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He says the agency is looking at three organizations that advertise online to wealthy Chinese women who may want to give birth in the U.S.


    "[The organizations] facilitate their travel," Arnold said. "They make arrangements for lodgings here, their medical care, etc.

    So that [their clients] can have children born here as United States citizens."


    In affidavits filed for the search warrants, federal authorities said that the businesses charged women up to $60,000 for coaching, facilitating travel to the U.S., lodging, hospital expenses, even nanny support.


    Arnold said nobody has been charged at this point. They're just collecting evidence. He added that as investigators encountered pregnant women they weren't arrested, but interviewed.


    "They're being treated as material witnesses to the overall conspiracy that we're investigating," said Arnold.

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...r-birth-touris
    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 03-04-2015 at 03:21 PM.
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    The Federal Criminal Conspiracy Law is found at Title 18 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 371, and it states, “If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner of for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years or both.
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    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnDoe2 View Post
    The Federal Criminal Conspiracy Law is found at Title 18 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 371, and it states, “If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner of for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years or both.
    What is the "offense"? To have a foreign baby on US soil so the US government hands them citizenship? Last time I checked, that is US government policy with every baby born on US soil. It's wrong for the government to do that, it's not a protected right under the US Constitution or any law under the jurisdiction of the United States, but that IS what the US government has been for doing many years. So what is the "conspiracy" to commit what "offense"? Tax evasion? Is there any evidence the businesses did not pay income tax on their income? And since when is ICE a tax collection agency?

    From what I can see, there is no "conspiracy", because there is no "offense" to begin with. If DHS doesn't like Chinese anchor babies, then it better wise up and and stop granting birthright citizenship to any children of any foreign person, not under the jurisdiction of the United States, including illegal aliens and foreign tourists, business visitors, students, visa workers, and consumers.

    Would their visa have been denied if they said they were coming here to use medical services? Would their visa have been denied if they said they were pregnant?

    It's incredible how this "raid" exposes the racism in DHS that desires to fabricate some phony "conspiracy" "offense" against Chinese visitors coming here legally on a visa to have a baby and pay for it, where DHS can't get enough of those Mexican and Hispanic visitors coming here illegally without permission to do anything let alone have an anchor baby and demand Medicaid Services and US taxpayers pay for it.

    Makes you wonder just exactly what US Civil Rights Act DHS thinks it's subject to. Apparently, like every other law of the United States, none.
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Judy View Post
    What is the "offense"? ...
    . . . federal authorities are investigating several businesses that may be breaking the law by helping wealthy Chinese women obtain U.S. visas under false pretenses.
    .
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    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    What is the "false pretense"? What is different about the "coaching" of these Chinese women than all the "coaching" of illegal aliens by the government, immigration attorneys, pro-immigration National Council of La Raza and thousands of other illegal Hispanic alien organizations? What is the difference between these businesses helping these Chinese women than all the labor networks actually breaking US immigration law?

    Don't get me wrong, I wish these women were committing visa fraud, I wish these women couldn't come here and have an anchor baby and in return the US government grants their children US citizenship and generates chain migration. I wish the US government which in this case is the Department of Homeland Security wasn't steering, commandeering, scheming, plotting, and committing all types of conspiracies to defraud US taxpayers with visa fraud. But out of all this travesty, ICE wants to target some Chinese women who actually went through the legal channels to obtain a visa, who actually brought money of their own to pay for everything from the pre-natal care to the deliveries and so forth?

    Well, needless to say, I am unimpressed, and it looks like outright race discrimination to me because what they're doing is far less serious than what millions of others of a difference race are doing. And unless ICE asked if they were pregnant and they said no, and unless ICE asked if they were planning to have a baby while they were here, and unless ICE would deny a visa because someone was pregnant and planning to have a baby here at their own expense at no cost to the US taxpayer, then I can't see an Offense, which means there is no Offense to commit a conspiracy about. And if it's illegal to enter the US to have a baby for citizenship purposes, then it's time ICE started checking birth records and legal status of the mothers, and start rounding up the whole gang of breeders and get them out of here, off our dole and out of our future.

    Otherwise, I think you're just going to be sued over civil rights violations, and in this instance, rightly so.

    In fact, unless it's illegal to enter the US to have a baby, I don't even know how ICE had sufficient probable cause to raid the businesses.
    Last edited by Judy; 03-04-2015 at 06:33 PM.
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Birth tourism: Irvine company makes $2 million in 2013 enticing foreign women to give birth to 400 babies in O.C., feds say

    March 3, 2015
    Updated March 4, 2015 10:16 a.m.
    Federal agents return to a command post Tuesday after executing search warrants inside an Irvine apartment complex where authorities say a birth tourism business charged pregnant women for lodging, food and amenities.KEN STEINHARDT, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER


    BY SCOTT SCHWEBKE and ROXANA KOPETMAN
    / STAFF WRITERS


    What is birth tourism?

    The practice of encouraging women to enter the United States to give birth, enabling their children to be U.S. citizens. One group estimates as many as 40,000 infants annually are born this way.

    Related stories

    Federal agents raid homes, some in Irvine, in crackdown on pregnant Chinese women traveling to U.S. to give birth
    Sites like this explain the benefits and perks of giving birth in the United States
    An Asian-language site promotes birth tourism in the U.S.
    Rancho Cucamonga: Booming Chinese baby business raided


    IRVINE – Federal agents on Tuesday raided at least 20 residences in Southern California, including an apartment complex near John Wayne Airport, in an attempt to crack down on the growing practice of maternity tourism.

    Federal and local law enforcement officials served search warrants and seized computers and documents at homes across Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. They also interviewed pregnant women who investigators say paid tens of thousands of dollars to companies that seek mostly Chinese clients, touting American citizenship, free education and other perks for their U.S.-born babies.

    As part of the package, women were promised they would receive Social Security numbers and U.S. passports for their infants, which mothers would take with them when they left the U.S. After the U.S.-born children reach adulthood, they can then apply for visas for family members living abroad.

    The operators advertised their services in China, charging fees ranging from $15,000 to $50,000. The more the client paid, the more perks the women got, including trips to Disneyland, shopping malls and outings to a firing range.

    Authorities estimate a couple who ran You Win USA Vacation Resort in Irvine made $2 million in 2013 and helped women give birth to 400 children in Orange County, according to affidavits released Tuesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    It is not illegal for foreign nationals to give birth in the United States.

    But authorities say operators instructed their clients to deceive the federal government on visa applications and make false claims of indigence to get lower fees for health services.


    In some cases, according to the affidavits, the women were even told what to wear to hide their pregnancies at airports to avoid questions about the purpose of their visits.

    Authorities are trying to build criminal cases against three companies, You Win USA Vacation Resort, USA Happy Baby Inc. and Star Baby Care.

    They’re looking for evidence of visa and tax fraud, money laundering and conspiracy, according to the affidavits.

    No arrests were made. The couple who runs You Win USA Vacation Resort, Chao Chen and Dong Li, could not be reached for comment, and the company’s website was down late Tuesday.

    In Irvine, federal agents arrived around 7 a.m. to present search warrants at The Carlyle at Colton Plaza, an apartment complex billed by its owners as “sumptuous.”

    Neighbors said the women, who stayed at a dozen apartments in the complex, appeared to be well-treated, and were often chauffered to medical appointments and other outings.

    “I saw the big, white van taking them shopping,” said Carlyle resident Tatyana Alali, 22. “They come back with bags from Gucci, Prada.”

    The women also seemed to have cooks who catered their meals after preparing them in one or two of the apartments.

    “They wear chef’s outfits, and they transport their food in carts down the hallway,” Alali said.

    In addition to The Carlyle, agents searched an apartment and two homes in Irvine, an apartment in Mission Viejo and multiple dwellings in Rancho Cucamonga, Rowland Heights and Walnut.

    Women interviewed Tuesday are cooperating with authorities, and some of them may become material witnesses against the three Chinese companies that brought them here, said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge with the Homeland Security Investigations.

    The crackdown launched Tuesday is the latest step in a long-running investigation that started with a pair of anonymous tips and included undercover agents.

    The documents say Irvine police contacted Homeland Security in June 2014 after receiving an anonymous letter detailing the business practices alleged at You Win USA, run by Chen and Li.

    Earlier, a separate letter with similar information was sent to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services headquarters in Washington, D.C.

    Early in the investigation, an agent who is fluent in the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese placed a phone call to the man operating You Win USA Vacation Resort, later identified as Chen.

    The agent asked to visit The Carlyle at Colton Plaza to view an apartment where a family member from China might stay before giving birth in the U.S., according to the affidavit.

    Equipped with an audio- and video-recording device, the agent toured the apartment and gathered more information about the business.

    Chen is alleged to have told the agent that up to two women are housed in a single room, adding that he has a system to help clients prepare for visa interviews to avoid detection by officials, the affidavit states.

    Later in 2014, undercover agents had additional conversations with Chen, and Homeland Security Investigations conducted surveillance at The Carlyle at Colton Plaza, according to one affidavit.

    “Homeland Security Investigations ... observed numerous Asian pregnant women being picked up and dropped off,” one affidavit reads.

    Meanwhile, authorities began looking into reports about similar cases in San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.

    The practice, known as birth tourism, is not restricted to China.

    The Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based group that supports lower levels of immigration, estimates there are roughly 40,000 birth tourists each year from China, Nigeria, Turkey and other countries.

    “I think what irks Americans about this situation is that birth tourists are effectively taking control over U.S. immigration and citizenship policy by turning a grant of temporary admission into a permanent stay,” said Jon Feere, legal policy analyst for the center.

    Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@ocregister.com and 714-796-7829 rkopetman@ocregister.com

    http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-652962--.html



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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    "But authorities say operators instructed their clients to deceive the federal government on visa applications and make false claims of indigence to get lower fees for health services."

    "Authorities are trying to build criminal cases against three companies, You Win USA Vacation Resort, USA Happy Baby Inc. and Star Baby Care."

    "They’re looking for evidence of visa and tax fraud, money laundering and conspiracy, according to the affidavits."
    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 03-04-2015 at 06:47 PM.
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