Material witness in ‘maternity tourism’ case arrested at L.A. airport

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – A woman considered a material witness in an investigation by U.S. immigration authorities into so-called maternity hotels in Southern California has been arrested while trying to flee the country, prosecutors said on Friday.

Ying Wu, 31, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at Los Angeles International Airport last week while attempting to board a flight to China with her husband and newborn child, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Thom Mrozek said.

Wu has not been charged criminally in connection with the investigation into the maternity hotels, which cater to foreign mothers-to-be seeking U.S. citizenship for their babies, but she had been ordered by a judge to remain in the United States on an unsecured $1,000 bond, Mrozek said. “We received word that she had made plans to leave with her husband and very young child, several weeks old,” he said. “We got an arrest warrant that cited a violation of her release on bond.”

Her husband and young child, who are not subject to a court order to remain in the country, were not taken into custody.

At a hearing two days after her arrest, a magistrate judge raised Wu’s bond to $10,000 and placed her under house arrest with supervision by a GPS device.