Court documents related to warrants for the raid Mar. 3 of “maternity tourism” scheme Starbabycare and several other such enterprises in Southern California detail translated portions of that company’s website, which state that the company had served 8,000 pregnant women since 1999.
A chief selling point of the baby hotel scheme was allegedly the potential to procure U.S. financial assistance and green cards for foreign parents without quota restrictions.
On February 2, 2015, a CBP Officer fluent in Chinese visited the website for Starbabycare, www.starbabycare.com, who then translated some of the website contents.
Where the website listed “about us,” the officer translated the words, “founded at Los Angeles in 1999.” That section of the site also claimed that since its founding, Starbabycare alone had served 8,000 pregnant women, with 4,000 of those coming from China. The company called itself the “pioneer of maternity services” and the “number one designated maternity service to the pregnant mother from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.”
Under a “frequently asked questions” section of the website, the officer noted, FAQ #1 read,
Question: “when is the right time to arrive to the United States during the pregnancy? Will U.S. Customs or airline refuse me?”
Answer: “In general, you should arrive in between 24-30 weeks … U.S. might refuse entry due to the belly is too big; therefore the size of the belly is quite important to determine when you should arrive Los Angeles”
A translation for FAQ #3 was also listed in the search warrant application:
Question: “What are the advantages as a U.S. citizen?”
Answer: ‘Too many. You can enjoy the free education from junior high school to public high school… You can apply loans or grants which is only for U.S. citizen… You can receive your senior supplement benefits when you are living overseas… To the parent after the baby becomes an adult, he/she can petition the parents for a green card…”
FAQ #4 was the final Question translated in the court documents. It reads:
Question: “Can the parents become an U.S. Citizen if the baby was born in U.S.?
Answer: “Yes, you can. America is the sovereignty, therefore the U.S. born baby would become an U.S. citizen, have the benefits of the education. After the child becomes 21 years old, can petition the parents to get the green card as an immigrant and without quota restrictions.”
Breitbart previously reported that court documents detailing another “maternity tourism” company, USA Happy Baby Inc., involved several clients that are Chinese government employees.
The website also informs potential customers, according to the translation in the court documents, that Starbabycare has branches in the United States, Taiwan, Peking and Shanghai, China. Company services are listed as including providing assistance in applying for a U.S. passport and related documents for client babies.
Several YouTube videos related to the scheme were also found online and noted in the warrant application.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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