Alleged maternity hotel in Chino Hills shuts down

An alleged maternity hotel operating out of a hilltop mansion in Chino Hills has apparently shut down after city officials obtained a temporary restraining order against its owners.

The hotel allegedly housed women from China who traveled to California to give birth to American citizen babies.

In a Dec. 7 court filing, Chino Hills officials describe a seven-bedroom house subdivided into 17 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms, with mothers and their babies staying in 10 of the rooms. The owners did not obtain permits to remodel the property, nor were they allowed to operate a business in a residential zone, the complaint stated.

Neighbors on Woodglen Drive complained of cars speeding in and out of the mansion’s driveway. In September, about 2,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled down the hill due to an overloaded septic system.

Last month, a group called Not In Chino Hills staged a protest against the facility.

City officials who inspected the alleged hotel said conditions inside were dangerous, with exposed wiring, missing smoke alarms and holes in the bedroom floors. They found brochures titled “USA Los Angeles Hermas International Club Guidance on How to Have an American Baby,” according to the Dec. 7 complaint. One hotel guest said she paid $150 a day for her room. A receipt from another guest totaled $27,000 for a stay of several months, the complaint said.

So-called birth tourism is widespread in the San Gabriel Valley, with Chinese-language websites advertising rooms in single-family homes or luxury apartment complexes. The practice does not violate federal immigration laws, but some maternity hotels have run afoul of local ordinances.

On Dec. 27, San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Ben Kayashima granted the city’s request for a temporary restraining order. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 17 to determine whether the ban on the hotel’s operations should be extended.

The Woodglen Drive house now appears to be unoccupied, city spokeswoman Denise Cattern said Thursday.

Hai Yong Wu, one of the owners, could not be reached for comment.

“It’s about time. This thing should have shut down a long time ago,” said Rossana Mitchell, Not In Chino Hills’ founder. “I’m glad to hear it.”

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Suspects in Coast Guardsman’s death due in court

Two Mexican nationals charged with killing a member of the U.S. Coast Guard are scheduled to appear in court on Friday.

Federal prosecutors have charged Jose Mejia-Leyva and Manuel Beltra-Higuera in the death of 34-year-old Chief Petty  Officer Terrell Horne III.

Horne, of Redondo Beach, was killed on Dec. 2 when suspected drug smugglers rammed a Coast Guard boat near Santa Cruz Island, officials said. He was second in command of the Halibut, an 87-foot patrol cutter based in Marina del Rey.

The Halibut had been dispatched to investigate a "panga"-style vessel that had fallen under suspicion because it was operating at night without lights. When Horne and his team approached in a smaller inflatable boat, the suspect boat gunned its engine, rammed the Coast Guard inflatable and fled, officials said.

The impact knocked Horne and another Coast Guardsman into the water.

Both were rescued, but Horne suffered a massive head injury caused by a propeller blade and was pronounced dead at the Port Hueneme Pier.

Military aircraft followed the alleged smugglers' 30-foot craft as it made its way toward Mexico, officials said. Another Coast Guard vessel overtook them as they tried to restart their sputtering engine, and the two suspects were detained, they said.

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Singer in famed Vietnamese musical family dies in O.C.

As the eldest son, born to Vietnam's most legendary singing family, Duy Quang stepped lithely on stage and held his audience enthralled. His voice amplified the ballads of yesteryear, many from his father, composer Pham Duy, who knew how to tug at listeners' hearts when writing about folk life, the spiritual or the profane.

So when news spread Wednesday of Duy Quang's death, at age 62, after suffering from lung cancer, stores in Little Saigon shuffled their displays to highlight his music, spurred to fame by his father's words.

"He is beloved for what comes out of his mouth when he sings. His voice is velvet. It could still warm us," said Ky Phat, Duy Quang's friend for more than 40 years.

As editor of Orange County-based Tre magazine, devoted to youth and pop culture, he had met the singer in Saigon when he booked him for his club, Queen Bee.

In the last decade, Duy Quang operated his own club, having returned to Vietnam like his father, continuing a minstrel life. The singer, a father of three, flew back to Orange County recently to seek advanced treatment for his illness.

Industry peers began to visit him daily at Orange Coast Memorial Hospital in Fountain Valley. He died at a nearby medical facility.

They admired Duy Quang and his siblings - Duy Minh, Duy Hung, Duy Cuong and Thai Hien - who in 1969 launched a band, the Dreamers, which played at concert halls for decades, selling out shows worldwide.

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Photo: Duy Quang. Credit: Courtesy of Ky Phat.

Drug lord’s daughter deported to Mexico

A woman believed to be the daughter of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman has been deported to Mexico after admitting that she tried to enter the U.S. using a fraudulent visa. 

Alejandrina Gisselle Guzman-Salazar, 31, was arrested in October at the San Ysidro port of entry after presenting to U.S. officers the forged visa of another person.

Guzman Salazar, who was pregnant at the time of her arrest, allegedly told U.S. authorities that she was en route to Los Angeles to give birth to her child.

Under terms of her plea agreement reached Monday, a federal judge sentenced Guzman Salazar to time already served since her arrest on Oct. 12. She was deported on Tuesday to Tijuana.

Guzman Salazar, who was eight months pregnant upon her release, claimed to be the daughter of the world’s most wanted drug trafficker during questioning, according to a high-ranking U.S. law enforcement official.

Her alleged connection to the drug kingpin didn’t play a role in the U.S. government’s handling of the case, according to Guzman Salazar’s attorneys. “The government, to their credit, treated her at the end of the day like any other person in the same situation,” said one of her attorneys, Guadalupe Valencia. “There was no evidence that she was involved in anything but this documents case.”

Last year, Joaquin Guzman's wife, Emma Coronel, was driven through the Calexico border crossing to the Los Angeles suburb of Lancaster, where she gave birth to twin girls at Antelope Valley Hospital. A former beauty queen, Coronel is a U.S. citizen and was not wanted by authorities.

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Photo: Joaquin Guzman Loera, alias "El Chapo Guzman, " is shown to the press after his 1993 arrest. Credit: Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press

First Vietnamese American mayor of Westminster sworn in

Bankers, laborers, teachers and lawyers, many of them immigrants, were among the crowd that swarmed Westminster City Hall to witness the swearing-in of the first Vietnamese American mayor of the city, birthplace of Little Saigon.

A diverse group of about 200 packed the Westminster City Council meeting, with plenty of Asian and Latino faces cheering for Tri Ta when he took the oath of office Wednesday night standing next to his wife and daughters.

Police turned some guests away, telling them to listen through the speakers set up outside.

"I believe he will bring a lot of new ideas to us," said former Mayor Kathy Buchoz, who served in the 1980s. "He deserves it. He's worked hard for it. I think he has integrity. And it's about time."

Solemnly, the new mayor thanked the crowd -- which bore flowers, flags and cellphones to snap souvenir photos -- for their support. Ta then introduced his extended family, including his parents who he said care for his two children "every weekend so I can have more time to attend events."

Ta, a mountain climber and magazine editor, was elected to the council six years ago. He's passionate about philosophy and how masters like Plato push the idea of being a good citizen as a prelude to learning about leadership.

"His winning will inspire people in all ethnic communities to take a closer look at politics, to join the action," says Joseph Pak, a Korean American activist. "It's really exciting and you can expect that everyone will watch him closely."

Chino Hills maternity hotel controversy heats up

Chino Hills officials told residents Tuesday night that they have filed a public nuisance lawsuit against the operators of a so-called maternity hotel. 

The outrage surrounding the hotel, which is located in an upscale residential neighborhood and allegedly houses women who travel from China to give birth to babies with U.S. citizenship, has inflamed local political rivalries and made some Asian residents fearful.

At a council meeting Tuesday night, city officials expressed confidence that the hotel will eventually shut down. In addition to the lawsuit, they have served the property owner with cease and desist orders for operating a business in a residential zone and making improvements to the house without a permit.

"We have this problem in our crosshairs, and we're working actively to take care of this," said City Councilman Art Bennett.

But residents of the wealthy suburban city worry that the problem cannot be stamped out merely by wielding municipal zoning codes.

Police Commission eases LAPD's illegal immigrant policy

The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday approved a plan from Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck to no longer turn over illegal immigrants arrested in low-level crimes to federal authorities for deportation.

The new rules, which are expected to go into effect early next month and affect about 400 people arrested each year, mark a significant move by the state's most influential local police agency to distance itself from federal immigration policies that Beck has said unfairly affects undocumented immigrants who are caught committing petty offenses.

For years, police departments have sent fingerprint information on every person arrested to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Federal officials, in turn, use the fingerprints to identify people suspected of being in the country illegally and often ask local agencies to put a 48-hour hold -- a detainer in law enforcement jargon -- on people.

These detainers authorized police to keep suspected illegal immigrants in custody for 48 hours longer than they otherwise would have been held in order to give ICE officials time to take them into federal custody.

Until now, the LAPD honored all ICE detainer requests, regardless of what offense the person was suspected of committing.

'Pick up' vans found at Rancho Palos Verdes beach where panga was headed

Two possible "pick up" vehicles were found waiting in Rancho Palos Verdes early Monday as a panga boat carrying 25 people approached the shoreline in what's being investigated as a possible human smuggling operation.

The vehicles were parked near a winding trail that connects to the beach. One was a 1991 blue GMC van; the other a 2002 red Dodge sports van registered to a medical transportation company. 

The rear window of the GMC van has a sticker with the image of St. Jude that reads “cuida mi camino” or “protect my path.”

Homeland Security is now interviewing the panga detainees, hoping to learn who is behind the apparent  smuggling operation.

Border Patrol agents said they spotted the panga, a fishing vessel that has been used in recent years by drug and human smugglers, floating off of Abalone Cove about 5 a.m.  

The agents requested aid from other agencies as the boat approached the shore, said Virginia Kice,  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman. Authorities said they don’t know what country the suspected migrants are from and are still trying to determine how many people were on the boat.  

Those who are not held for possible criminal prosecution will be turned over to U.S. Border Patrol for possible deportation proceedings, Kice said.   

Maritime smuggling has been on the rise in the last four years along the Southern California coast. In 2008 there were 45 human-smuggling-related incidents, most of them in the San Diego area. In 2012 there were more than 200, Kice said in a statement. 

In addition to federal authorities, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Port Police are involved, Kice said.

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16 people found hiding in bushes, van on San Diego freeway

More than a dozen suspected illegal immigrants -- some in wet clothing caked with sand -- were detained along Interstate 5 in Carmel Valley early Monday, police in San Diego said.

An officer spotted a van stopped on the side of the southbound freeway near Carmel Valley Road about 4:30 a.m., according to police.

The vehicle was full of people who had wet and sandy shoes and pants, as if they had recently been in the ocean, police said.

The officer determined that some of people in the van didn’t have documents showing that they were legally in the United States. Several other suspected illegal immigrants were found near the van hiding in bushes, police said.

In all, 16 people were taken into custody. The detainees were handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. No other details were immediately released.

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Photo: Detainees sit along the freeway in Carmel Valley in San Diego. Credit: Fox5 San Diego

Baca will no longer turn over low-level offenders to immigration

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said Wednesday he will no longer honor requests from federal authorities to detain suspected illegal immigrants arrested for low-level crimes, a reversal from his previous support of the controversial Secure Communities program.

Until recently, Baca has been adamant about complying with the federal requests, arguing that they were mandatory. He was the most outspoken opponent of a bill called the Trust Act, which would have required California law enforcement to disregard the requests in many cases.

A Baca spokesman said the change was prompted by a legal directive issued by California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris on Tuesday indicating that compliance with the federal requests is at the discretion of sheriffs' and police departments.

The change may not take effect immediately. Baca has directed his staff to flesh out the details of the new policy, which would apply only to those arrested for misdemeanors. It would still require jailers to honor federal detention requests for those accused of serious or violent crimes.

Under Secure Communities, all arrestees' fingerprints are sent to immigration officials, who may ask that they be held for up to 48 hours until transfer to federal custody.

The program has come under fire for ensnaring minor offenders when its stated purpose is to deport dangerous criminals. Critics say it has made immigrants fearful of cooperating with police.

Last month, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck announced that his department would no longer honor federal immigration detainers for low-level arrestees not previously convicted of violent crimes. The LAPD joined several other California law enforcement agencies, including the San Francisco and the Santa Clara counties sheriffs' departments, that were already declining the requests.

“The last thing we want is victims to be frightened to come forward,” said Steve Whitmore, the Baca spokesman.

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Photo: Sheriff Lee Baca holds a press conference in September. Credit: Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times