The birthright citizenship debate exploded this week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning it.
Trump's ban was scheduled to go into effect on February 19, but a federal judge in Seattle on Thursday temporarily blocked the order. Some experts believe this issue will eventually be resolved by the Supreme Court.
If the ban is ultimately enacted, it could affect tens of thousands of children born to illegal immigrant parents.
President Donald Trump signs the executive order on January 23, 2025 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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The Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit research organization focused on immigration, said Friday that based on its preliminary findings, there will be between 225,000 and 250,000 births to undocumented immigrants in 2023, about 20% of total births. He said it accounts for 7%. United States that year.
To put the numbers into context, the group says these numbers are greater than the total number of births in all but two states taken separately.
Additionally, more children appear to be born to illegal immigrant parents than legal noncitizens.
Although not yet available, the group says the number in 2024 is likely to be even higher, given the surge in illegal immigration into the country under the Biden administration.
The Center for Immigration Studies says it last took a deep dive into legal and illegal immigrant births in the United States in 2018, based on an analysis of the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). The group says it used the same methodology for its preliminary 2023 findings.
The group says illegal immigrants are present in census data but are never explicitly identified by the bureau. Fox News Digital requested numbers from the Census Bureau and Homeland Security but did not immediately receive a response.
A 2018 report found that in 2014, one in five people (791,000) in the United States had an immigrant mother (legal or illegal). The group said it estimated that legal immigrants accounted for 12.4% (494,000) of all births, while illegal immigrants accounted for 7.5% (297,000).
Aerial view shows a group of migrants walking across water and barbed wire to the US-Mexico border on February 1, 2024 in El Paso, Texas. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Trump's order, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Values of American Citizenship,” seeks to clarify the 14th Amendment as “a person born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction.” of the state in which he lives.”
It makes clear that people born to illegal immigrant parents or who were here legally but on temporary nonimmigrant visas are not citizens by birthright.
“The 14th Amendment has never been interpreted to universally extend citizenship rights to all persons born within the United States,” the order reads.
Trump has repeatedly described birthright citizenship as “ridiculous” and something that needs to stop. The United States is one of about 30 countries where birthright citizenship applies.
Thursday's decision by U.S. District Judge John Cornoy, a Ronald Reagan appointee, follows four U.S. states: Arizona, Illinois, Oregon and Washington that block Trump's executive order. I appealed to you to do so. .
Coughenour on Thursday called the executive order banning birthright citizenship “disturbing” and told the court he doesn't recall seeing it as “blatantly unconstitutional” in his more than 40 years on the bench. .
The 14-day restraining order granted by Coughenour applies throughout the United States
Migrants at the front of the line are processed for entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Debate has been reignited over whether children of illegal immigrants born in the United States are entitled to citizenship. (Jon Michael Raasch/Fox News Digital)
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In the meantime, the administration can ask the federal appeals court in San Francisco to lift the TRO and allow enforcement for now, but the case remains litigated. This can last for many months.
A Justice Department spokesperson told Fox News that the department “vigorously defends” President Trump's executive order, which correctly interprets the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“We look forward to presenting the full merits argument to the courts and the American people, who are eager to see our nation’s laws implemented.”
Fox News' Breanne Deppisch and David Spunt contributed to this report
