L.A. County cites 16 'maternity hotel' owners

Following a flurry of complaints, Los Angeles County inspectors have cited 16 "maternity hotel" owners for illegally operating boardinghouses in residential zones.

The facilities, all in Rowland Heights or Hacienda Heights, will ultimately be shut down, county officials said...

The multi-agency inspections were commissioned by the Board of Supervisors in February after media coverage of a Chino Hills maternity hotel triggered an increase in complaints. The women typically come from China or Taiwan, paying up to $20,000 to stay in the facilities for several months before and after giving birth. The baby receives a U.S. passport, and the family returns home to Asia.

So-called birth tourism is permitted under U.S. immigration law as long as the pregnant woman has a valid tourist or business visa. But maternity hotels in the San Gabriel Valley have often operated out of single-family homes in violation of local zoning laws...

The hotels' exteriors are generally well-kept, the report said. But some neighbors complain of frequent comings and goings. In the Chino Hills case, a hilltop mansion was allegedly converted into a maternity hotel with 17 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms, overloading the septic tank and resulting in a massive sewage spill.

A Mandarin-speaking investigator is accompanying the county inspection teams, resulting in better communication with hotel operators, the report said. Still, of 66 locations targeted for inspection, inspectors could gain access only to 42, 16 of which were deemed to be maternity hotels.

All of the inspections were triggered by complaints from residents...

CAIRCO Research

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