Source: Wall Street Journal
By Miriam Jordan
A denial of birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants would end up increasing the size of the nation’s illegal population, according to a new study released Wednesday.
The idea of ending birthright citizenship has become popular among politicians and activists seeking to curb the number of illegal immigrants. But Jennifer Van Hook, a demographer and the report’s principal author, said such a change would instead increase the size of the illegal population, a commonsense result of illegal immigrants having children after a birthright repeal.
The analysis by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute predicted illegal U.S.-born individuals would number about five million by 2050, if birthright citizenship were repealed in the near future. Currently, the U.S. is home to a total of 11 million illegal immigrants.
“Even assuming an immediate and complete halt in new illegal immigration, repeal of birthright citizenship would generate a large U.S.-born unauthorized population that has the potential to grow,” said Prof. Van Hook, who teaches demography at Pennsylvania State University.
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.
Click here to read the rest of this post.
