Texas Border Business
AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating two South Texas hospitals after Spanish-language billboards near the U.S.-Mexico border advertised childbirth services to expectant mothers in Mexico. The investigation is part of a sweeping investigation by the Office of the Attorney General into potentially unlawful birth tourism schemes.
Mission Regional Medical Center promoted “Birth Packages in South Texas” and directed prospective patients to the website havemybabyinTEXAS.com. Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco has also been implicated as being involved.
“My office will investigate any suspected illegal birth tourism schemes in Texas, including the operations of two South Texas hospitals that appeared to advertise birth tourism on a billboard near the border,” said Attorney General Paxton. “My office will continue to hold accountable any entity that knowingly facilitates fraud in our state.”
In April, Attorney General Paxton sued De’Ai Postpartum Care Center, a Houston-area operation, that was coaching Chinese nationals to deceive federal immigration officials and obtain birthright citizenship. That case remains ongoing.
As part of fair and balanced journalism, corporations named in Attorney General Ken Paxton’s investigation, including Mission Regional Medical Center and Knapp Medical Center, should be afforded the opportunity to respond to the allegations and provide their perspective. While the Attorney General’s office has announced a sweeping investigation into Mission Regional Medical Center and Knapp Medical Center and issued Civil Investigative Demands to Mission Regional Medical Center and Knapp Medical Center, the investigation remains ongoing, and no findings of wrongdoing have been made. Fair reporting requires that all parties have an opportunity to address the claims, explain their practices, and comment on the issues raised by the investigation. Send perspective to: info@tbbmega.com
Information source: Texas Attorney General’s Office
