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Federal agents raid 20 suspected 'maternity hotels' in California
Source: Reuters
Federal agents raid 20 suspected 'maternity hotels' in California
LOS ANGELES Tue Mar 3, 2015 12:51pm EST
(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.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Susan Heavey)
LOS ANGELES Tue Mar 3, 2015 12:51pm EST
(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.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Susan Heavey)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/03/us-usa-maternity-california-idUSKBN0LZ25220150303
Source: NBC News
Feds Raid California 'Maternity Hotels' for Birth Tourists
BY ANDREW BLANKSTEIN AND TRACY CONNOR
Southern California apartment complexes that doubled as "maternity hotels" for Chinese women who want made-in-America babies were raided early Tuesday, capping an unprecedented federal sting operation, officials said.
NBC News was on the scene as Homeland Security agents swept into The Carlyle, a luxury property in Irvine, California, which housed pregnant women and new moms who allegedly forked over $40,000 to $80,000 to give birth in the United States.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
None of the women were arrested; they are being treated as material witnesses, and paramedics were on hand in case any of them went into labor during the sweep.
Instead, the investigation was aimed at ringleaders who pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars tax-free to help Chinese nationals obtain visas and then pamper them until they delivered in an American hospital at a discount, court papers show.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
BY ANDREW BLANKSTEIN AND TRACY CONNOR
Southern California apartment complexes that doubled as "maternity hotels" for Chinese women who want made-in-America babies were raided early Tuesday, capping an unprecedented federal sting operation, officials said.
NBC News was on the scene as Homeland Security agents swept into The Carlyle, a luxury property in Irvine, California, which housed pregnant women and new moms who allegedly forked over $40,000 to $80,000 to give birth in the United States.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
None of the women were arrested; they are being treated as material witnesses, and paramedics were on hand in case any of them went into labor during the sweep.
Instead, the investigation was aimed at ringleaders who pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars tax-free to help Chinese nationals obtain visas and then pamper them until they delivered in an American hospital at a discount, court papers show.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/feds-raid-california-maternity-hotels-birth-tourists-n315996