Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has been called out for pushing the bogus claim that hordes of heavily pregnant Chinese women are rushing to the U.S. to secure American citizenship for their children.
Mullin made the claim during an appearance on Fox News Wednesday, speaking after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship for millions of Americans.
On Tuesday, in a 6-3 vote, the court ruled that the 80-year-old president lacked the authority to override the citizenship potections guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
Trump had proposed that only individuals with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident would be citizens at birth.
The Supreme Court “is absolutely dead wrong on this situation,” said Mullin, who served in Congress before replacing Kristi Noem in late March.
“If you look at the reason for the 14th Amendment, again, this is way outside what has happened, especially with China and their tourist visas, is they get to come into the United States or our territories just simply to give birth.
“They’ll come in the eighth month, maybe one, two, three weeks left, give birth here, have a child. Then they move back to China. Raise them under a communist regime even though they are a citizen of the United States,” he went on, without presenting data to back up his claims.
“Then they come back over here, and in some cases we see they go to universities. They’re stealing intellectual property. It’s absolutely been a national security issue. This is truly a national security risk that we’re having.”
The Trump official was met with immediate blowback on X from immigration experts, RawStory first reported.
“We know this is not happening, because no airline in the world would permit it,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. “And even if someone managed to hide a pregnancy that far along, CBP officials at airports already have the discretion to turn away a tourist in that situation; no new laws or policies needed.”
Most airlines prohibit air travel to women who are in their final month of pregnancy, and medical documentation is typically required to confirm how far along a pregnant traveler is.
Immigration lawyer Allen Orr Jr. said no federal agency has produced a definitive count of how many women travel to the United States specifically for birth tourism.
“It’s important to remember, Fox News paid out $787 million for spreading lies about the 2020 election,” wrote Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
