Study: 8% Of All US Births Are Children Of Illegal Aliens

I don't think the odds of ending birth right citizenship via constitutional amendment are very high but stories like this certainly add fuel to the fire.

"Unauthorized immigrants are younger than the rest of the population, are more likely to be married and have higher fertility rates than the rest of the population," said Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew in Washington, D.C.

The report, based on Pew's analysis of the Census Bureau's March 2009 Current Population Survey, also found that the lion's share, or 79%, of the 5.1 million children of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. in 2009 were born in the country and are therefore citizens.

In total, about 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the U.S. Latinos account for 75% of undocumented U.S. immigrants and about 85% of the births among that population.

There's always a lot of debate about whether or not illegal immigrants are an economic net plus or negative but given that they account for about 4% of the population but double that in terms of percentage of children born and that illegals tend to work in low paying jobs, it's hard to imagine they are anything but an overall drain on the economy.

Added: I've been meaning to find a place to link this and this seems as good a place as any. Supporters of birthright citizenship often attack opponents as xenophobic and racist. If the US eliminated birthright citizenship, we'd join such pariah nations as, um, the UK, Sweden, Ireland, Spain, Japan and South Korea to name just a few. That would leave Canada as the only developed country to offer automatic citizenship to children born there, regardless of their parent's legal status.

Now you can make a case that birthright citizenship is part of American exceptionalism but that's something most liberals generally are embarrassed by. Funny how they are willing to wrap themselves in the flag when it suits their political aims.

posted by DrewM. at 02:06 PM

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