FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas — A Fort Bend County district judge has permanently shut down De’Ai Postpartum Care Center after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the Houston-area business of facilitating “birth tourism” for Chinese nationals.
The judge signed an agreement Friday that bars De’Ai owners Lin Suling and Lai Wan Lin-Chan from operating birthing-related businesses, providing medical services, offering immigration coaching or helping foreign nationals obtain visas.
Paxton filed the lawsuit against De’Ai in April, alleging that the center promoted packages that helped Chinese nationals travel to Texas to give birth so their children could obtain U.S. citizenship. The Attorney General’s Office said the operation facilitated more than 1,000 births.
The center operated at least four residential properties in Richmond, Rosenberg and Sugar Land in Fort Bend County, as well as an apartment complex in Houston, according to the lawsuit.
The defendants denied the allegations in court documents and agreed to the settlement after participating in negotiations with the Attorney General’s Office. The agreement also waives their right to appeal.
Paxton called the closure a legal victory and said he would continue efforts to target what he described as unlawful “birth tourism” operations.
“This operation helped Chinese foreign nationals come to Texas to evade our laws,” Paxton said in a Sept. 18 social media post.
Court records show that the Attorney General’s Office also sought information from the center’s social media accounts, including TikTok accounts that the state alleged promoted its services overseas.
The case comes as Texas Republican leaders push efforts to address birth tourism and changes to birthright citizenship.
President Donald Trump signed executive orders in August targeting birth tourism and limiting birthright citizenship in certain circumstances. The orders face ongoing legal challenges.
Paxton’s lawsuit separately alleged that De’Ai violated Texas law through its business practices. The Attorney General’s Office announced the lawsuit in April, accusing the center of facilitating Chinese nationals’ travel to Texas for the purpose of giving birth and obtaining citizenship.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said the state will work with the Trump administration to investigate birth tourism and report its findings to the U.S. Department of Justice.
De’Ai attorney Eric Nichols declined to comment.
