Woman Sentenced For Helping Pregnant Chinese Women Get To U.S. As Part Of "Birth Tourism" Scheme

CBS News, CBS Los Angeles

January 28, 2025

A California woman was sentenced to more than three years behind bars for her role in a "birth tourism" scheme in which women traveled to the U.S. to give birth, giving the child birthright citizenship, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Central District of California confirmed.

Jing Dong, also known as Phoebe Dong, and her husband, Michael Wei Yueh Liu, were convicted in September on one charge each of conspiracy and 10 counts of international money laundering. Liu was sentenced last year to 41 months in prison, the same sentence Dong received.

While the case is years old, the sentencing comes as President Donald Trump seeks to end birthright citizenship. He instituted an executive order in an attempt to end it, but a federal judge in Seattle temporarily blocked the order. Under the 14th Amendment, children born in the U.S. are considered American citizens. Some expectant mothers travel to the U.S. to give birth as a way of gaining American citizenship for their children.

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