55-year-old Chinese woman lost custody after divorce and was arrested for taking her 12-year-old daughter out of the country

A Chinese woman from California was recently arrested for attempting to take her daughter across the Niagara Falls border into Canada and then back to China. Authorities charged her with international parental kidnapping after it was determined that she did not have custody of her daughter.

Local prosecutors have identified the 12-year-old girl as the biological daughter of Mei Tian, a 55-year-old woman. Legally, however, her ex-husband holds sole custody, which implies that Mei’s visitation rights have been severely restricted. Riverside County officials had been investigating Mei for alleged kidnapping when she was apprehended. Although she had visitation rights granted in early August, she was supposed to return her daughter to her ex-husband by August 11 but allegedly went missing with the child instead.

According to court documents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, on the evening of September 27, Mei attempted to cross into Canada with her daughter via an Uber ride at the Rainbow Bridge Port in Niagara Falls. During the crossing, she presented a document asserting that her daughter’s father had given her permission to travel abroad. However, Canadian officials became suspicious of the signature and denied their entry.

Upon returning to the U.S., customs officers found out about Mei’s legal troubles. The indictment highlighted multiple police reports connected to her and her daughter’s disappearance. Importantly, California authorities had previously issued a restriction preventing them from leaving the state without authorization following their disappearance in August.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Mei had several pieces of luggage and travel documents in her possession, including U.S. and Chinese passports, an expired Chinese passport, and her daughter’s birth certificate from Orange County. The document she presented to Canadian officials was deemed fraudulent upon review. Reports indicate that Mei acknowledged her original intention was to enter Canada and then head to China.

She now faces charges of international parental kidnapping and making false statements to Customs and Border Protection officers. If convicted, she could face up to eight years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Chinese-American attorney Chen Chuang remarked that cases like this are not unusual in U.S. divorce disputes. He stressed that the U.S. has a much stricter legal framework regarding child protection compared to China, with serious consequences for those who violate custody agreements. He advised Chinese individuals going through divorce proceedings to remain acutely aware of these legal boundaries to avoid breaking the law.