Attorney General Ken Paxton says he has successfully shut down a Houston “birth tourism” center following his lawsuit against the operation.
De’Ai Postpartum Care Center was accused of operating an illegal scheme that imported foreign nationals to give birth for U.S. citizenship. The center catered to Chinese nationals, communicating with clients through Chinese social media and websites.
It claimed responsibility for 1,000+ American-born babies.
The operation went beyond providing its four residential locations. It “coached foreign nationals on how to evade immigration restrictions, including advising women to apply for visas ‘before pregnancy’ to avoid detection,” according to the Office of the Attorney General.
The lawsuit claimed that the center’s clients were guided through visa applications, travel logistics, housing, and documentation for the children, including U.S. passports, Social Security numbers, and birth certificates.
The state accused the defendants of unlawfully harboring clients through misrepresentation of travel on visa applications, tampering with governmental records, and deceptive trade practices.
The OAG achieved a permanent injunction against the practices of the center, shutting it down.
“America is for Americans, not foreigners trying to cheat the system to claim citizenship,” said Paxton. “The Center’s scheme not only facilitated an invasion of Texas, but it also involved shielding and facilitating violations of immigration law. Birthright citizenship is a scam that threatens national security, and I will do everything in my power to stop unlawful ‘birth tourism’ schemes like this one.”
The Office of the Attorney General stated that “the Center will cease its operations and stop facilitating births, including stopping the practice of coaching foreign nationals on how to evade immigration laws to enter the United States for the purpose of giving birth.”
“I will do everything in my power to stop foreign nationals from unlawfully exploiting our immigration system through the scam of ‘birth tourism,’” said Paxton. “This operation helped Chinese foreign nationals come to Texas to evade our laws. Now, we have shut it down.”
The court case comes as a part of a larger movement to end birth tourism.
Governor Abbott issued an executive order in July to investigate claims of birth tourism in Texas. The order referenced Paxton’s lawsuit. Increased attention on the issue comes after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year against President Trump’s executive order which would have ended the practice of awarding citizenship to the children of illegal aliens or temporary residents.
In August, President Trump signed another executive order aimed at ending birth tourism. It states, “Citizenship is not a commodity to be acquired through calculated exploitation and evasion of the immigration laws, such as by entering the United States on a nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth within the Nation’s borders.”
The State Department also established a task force to end birth tourism.
In July, U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill (R–Flower Mound) introduced the Citizenship Act of 2026, which would make the children of birth tourists ineligible for citizenship by amending the Immigration and Nationality Act. U.S. Sen. Jim Banks (R–Ind.) filed companion legislation in the Senate.
