An ex-Trump administration official lashed out at CNN anchor Erica Hill on Tuesday after she challenged him on claims that “birth tourism” is a rampant issue in the United States.
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“But that still wouldn’t deal with birth tourism, which is a full-blown industry in this country,” former acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli said on “CNN News Central” Tuesday following the Supreme Court’s ruling on birthright citizenship. “Where they invite people in, they get tourist visas, give birth, their child is an American citizen under this ruling, which is what they’re taking advantage of.”
Cuccinelli claimed, without evidence, that 42% of children born from “birth tourism” in California are from China.
Hill quickly pushed back on those claims, much to Cuccinelli’s dismay.
“I would point out the numbers on birth tourism are not clear at this point,” Hill said. “Not that there aren’t concerns about it.”
Hill went on to point out that polling numbers indicate a majority of Americans support birthright citizenship, while Cuccinelli attempted to talk over her.
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“Ken Cuccinelli, we appreciate you taking the time to join us. Thank you,” Hill said, wrapping up.
“Boy, you are a left-wing hack,” Cuccinelli said.
“Wow, it’s unfortunate that you felt the need to say that. I appreciate you coming on to answer fair questions,” Hill said, while Cuccinelli abruptly disconnected from the interview.
It’s unclear what Cuccinelli’s source is for his claims of “birth tourism” being a full-blown industry in the U.S. A 2020 study from the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for lower immigration, estimated the possible number of birth tourism cases at 20,000 to 26,000 per year, using data from 2016-2017. That would represent less than 1% of the 3.86 million births in the U.S. in 2017. Meanwhile, a Niskanen Center calculation in response determined “an estimate of birth tourists statistically indistinguishable from zero.”
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Watch Hill’s interview with Cuccinelli here:
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