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WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Justice Department on June 30 has directed all federal prosecutors across the country to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of commercial birth tourism schemes used by foreign nationals to secure U.S. citizenship for their children. The Department of Homeland Security will assist to target these operations.

“The benefits of United States citizenship require little explanation. Unlike most countries in the world, the United States extends this extraordinary privilege to almost anyone born within its borders and territories. Regrettably, the American system is exploited each year by thousands of foreigners who travel to the United States under false pretenses to give birth and secure citizenship for their child,” the Colin M. McDonald of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General writes in the memo.

The memo states that many schemes begin with false visa applications about the purpose or length of stay, violating 18 U.S.C. § 1546.

Prosecutors were instructed to work with the Department of Homeland Security to consider a range of federal statutes in addition to visa fraud. These include wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 1349; money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering under 18 U.S.C. § 1956; unlawful use of means of identification under 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7); aggravated identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1); and conspiracy to commit health care fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1347. Prosecutors were also told to assess the possibility of criminal forfeiture under relevant statutes.

“The Department of Justice will zealously protect the sanctity of United States citizenship by investigating and prosecuting those who fraudulently exploit our immigration system,” wrote McDonald. “Together, we will bring illegal birth tourism to an end and those responsible to justice.”

The memo provided three recent examples of successful prosecutions of “Birth tourism” schemes:

• In 2024, a husband and wife, Michael Wei Yueh Liu and Jing Dong, were each sentenced to 41 months’ imprisonment for operating a birth tourism scheme with a business named “USA Happy Baby Inc.” that charged Chinese clients tens of thousands of dollars to help them give birth in the United States. Liu and Dong assisted customers with obtaining fraudulent visas to enter the United States, and provided customs entry guidance, housing, and transportation in the United States. As part of the scheme, Liu and Dong coached their customers on how to hide their pregnancies from immigration authorities.

• In 2022, Ibrahim Aksakalwas sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment for conspiring to commit health care and wire fraud in connection with a birth tourism scheme that Aksakal operated in New York. Aksakal and his co-conspirators advertised a birth tourism scheme on two Turkish-language social media pages. As part of the scheme, Aksakal and his co­conspirators instructed the women to conceal their pregnancies from immigration authorities. In addition to the prison term, Aksakal was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,039,723.63, and forfeiture in the amount of$397,500.

• In 2020, fugitive Chao “Edwin” Chen received a 37-month sentence for operating “You Win USA,” which served more than 500 Chinese clients, charged $40,000 to $80,000 each and received $3 million in international wire transfers. Chen, who helped coach his customers to misrepresent the true intentions of their visits to United States at ports of entry.

The DOJ’s new directive comes mere house after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, June 30, that children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully present or temporarily in the country are citizens at birth under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Author: Mario Lotmore