Q&A – How Many Children Are Born in the US To Non-Citizens? - Driven By Braman Motorcars
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station’s page in the iHeart app.
Today’s Entry: Submitted via Talkback asking about the children born in the US from illegal immigrants.
Bottom Line: I can assure you that I’ve not forgotten about the impact of children born in this country to noncitizens. You’ve raised a great point, and a great topic because this is the week that the Supreme Court hears President Trump’s challenge to birthright citizenship and there’s much to discuss as this issue will soon come to a head.
On Thursday the Supreme Court will hear the challenge to President Trump’s executive order which seeks to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States without at least one parent legally residing in this country. In addressing today’s note, there’s a massive number of children who’re born to parents who’re unlawfully in our country. The most recent study on this topic was completed in February by the Center for Immigration Studies painting a picture of just how pervasive the situation currently is following years of record illegal immigration into this country under the Biden administration.
According to the study’s findings:
- 225,000 to 250,000 births to illegal immigrants are occurring annually
- 7% of all births in the U.S. are children of parents in the country illegally
With an average of 651 children born to illegal immigrants in the United States everyday – this dynamic continues to place additional strain on U.S. resources by the day. With 63% of non-citizen households on government assistance programs, the addition of children commonly leads to greater government dependence leading to higher costs to taxpayers.
As I’ve previously illustrated, the longer an illegal immigrant is in this country – the more likely they are to end up on government assistance programs. Often children play into that consideration with many. According to the National Academies’ study of the fiscal impact of illegal immigrants – the average net lifetime financial impact of each illegal immigrant from the time they enter this country until the time they exit (be it be by deportation or death) is $68,000. That’s a figure net of taxes paid by illegals. There is no relative strain on government programs that’s greater than the cost of illegal immigrants.
This is all part of what’s on the line as the Supreme Court weighs the birthright citizenship question. It’s clear the current policy, which has allowed for children born to parents lacking legal authority to be considered legal citizens, has provided significant incentive for many families. How much so?
- The current estimate for the total number of US citizens born to illegal immigrants is 7 million on the low end to 10 million on the higher end
Also, related to the impetus behind today’s note, the overall use of government assistance programs stands at 63%, for those with children born in the United States, the number jumps to 88%. So “anchor babies”, as they’re often referred to, lead to the greatest use of government assistance programs of any group of people living within the United States. By way of comparison, the use rate of government assistance for American families stands at about 30%.
There are many ways in which American taxpayers have been on the hook when it’s comes to paying for the facilitation of illegal immigration. None are or have been greater than those presented by illegal immigrants who choose to have kids in the United States. It’s one of many arguments in favor of ending birthright citizenship as it’s been allowed to persist. We’ll soon see if the Supreme Court agrees.