Repeal of birthright citizenship for the U.S.-born children of unauthorized immigrants would expand the unauthorized population by at least 5 million over the next four decades using conservative demographic assumptions, according to a new Migration Policy Institute (MPI) report.
The report, The Demographic Impacts of Repealing Birthright Citizenship, employs standard demographic techniques to assess how passage of the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009 or changes to the 14th Amendment would affect the size of the unauthorized immigrant population through 2050.
The analysis reveals that passage of the House-introduced Birthright Citizenship Act, which would deny U.S. citizenship to children born to parents who are both unauthorized immigrants, would increase the unauthorized population from its current 10.8 million to 16 million in 2050, assuming a steady-state model.
The Wall Street Journal notes one reaction:
Jon Feere, legal policy analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies, a right-leaning research group that favors more restrictive immigration policies, agreed that "ending automatic birthright citizenship would not automatically end all illegal immigration."
But, Mr. Feere added, "it will put an end to pregnant women traveling to the U.S. specifically for the purpose of giving birth" to get U.S. passports for their children.
