A California woman was sentenced on Monday to more than three years in prison in a long-running case over a business that helped pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States to deliver babies who automatically became American citizens.
R Gary Klausner, a US district judge, gave Phoebe Dong a 41-month sentence. Dong and her husband were convicted in September of conspiracy and money laundering through their company, USA Happy Baby
During the sentencing hearing in federal court in Los Angeles, Dong wiped away tears as she recalled growing up without siblings due to China’s strict “one-child” policy. She told the federal court in Los Angeles that the Chinese government forced her mother to have an abortion.
Federal prosecutors argued that Dong and her now separated husband Michael Liu helped more than 100 pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States. Authorities said the pair coached women on how to trick customs officials by flying into airports believed to be more lax while wearing loose-fitting clothing to hide their pregnancies.
“For tens of thousands of dollars each, defendant helped her numerous customers deceive US authorities and buy US citizenship for their children,” prosecutors said in court filings.
Federal prosecutors declined to comment after the sentencing.
Dong told the court that moving to the United States had been challenging but that she grew hopeful after having three children of her own. She became an American citizen and said she saw she could help Chinese women seeking to have additional children near her home in California.
“I don’t want to lose my kids,” she told the court. “I hope you can give me fair judgment. I will take all my responsibility.”
In December, Liu was also sentenced to 41 months in prison. Dong’s lawyer, John McNicholas, asked that she be allowed to serve her term after Liu has completed his sentence because of their children. The youngest is 13.
Judge Klausner refused and had her taken into custody immediately. She removed a necklace and gave it to a family member before she was led away.
McNicholas said that Dong would appeal.
Birthright citizenship has been thrust into the spotlight in the United States with the return of Donald Trump to the White House. Trump last week issued an executive order to narrow the definition of birthright citizenship. It was quickly blocked by a federal judge who called it “blatantly unconstitutional”. The order had been opposed by the attorneys general for 22 states.
Dong and Liu were among more than a dozen people charged in an Obama-era crackdown on so-called “birth tourism” schemes that helped Chinese women hide their pregnancies as they traveled to the United States to deliver babies. Such businesses have long operated in California and other states catering to people from China, Russia, Nigeria and elsewhere.
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