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Chino Hills Residents Protest Against Neighboring Home Run As 'Maternity Hotel'

CHINO HILLS (CBSLA.com) — Residents protested Saturday against a neighborhood home where women from China stay and have babies.

Neighbors call it a "maternity hotel".

A website shows the hilltop mansion, along with other houses, targeting pregnant women in China.

It spells out the benefits of having a child born in the United States and what the government will provide.

"We're hoping that we'll send the message loud and clear that they cannot conduct this type of business in Chino Hills," neighborhood advocate Rossana Mitchell said.

Chinese women reportedly obtain tourist visas and pay up to $15,000 to stay in the house in the 15000 block of Woodglen Drive so their children are automatically granted citizenship.

In the 14th Amendment to the Constitution allows for babies born here to automatically become U.S. citizens, or anchor babies.

Officials said the practice is not illegal, but the city is investigating zoning issues to see if this house is illegally operating as a hotel in a residential neighborhood.

The same group operates a hotel in Anaheim, where they also provide services to women who come to the U.S. to have babies.

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