Irvine, CA

On March 3rd, 2018, NBC news aired a segment about the raid of 20 “maternity hotels” and “birth hotels” in Southern California that catered to Chinese women who wanted to give birth to their children in the United States. The segment says that the women were “coached” on how to enter the country as easily and safely as possible, and advised to travel through Hawaii and conceal their pregnancy. The raids were conducted for suspected tax fraud, visa fraud, and defrauding hospitals, but there were no arrests. Although giving birth in the United States is not illegal, this news segment sustained a fearful tone about the Chinese birth tourism industry, which shows the continued fear about certain racialized women giving birth in the United States. (NBC news)

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