Survey: More Than 6-in-10 Republican Voters Oppose Anchor Baby Policy

More than 6-in-10 Republican voters oppose providing birthright American citizenship to the United States-born children of illegal aliens, a new survey finds.

The survey, released by the pro-migration libertarian Cato Institute, finds that about 61 percent of Republican voters said they do not support current U.S. policy that provides birthright American citizenship to the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens, often referred to as “anchor babies.”

Fewer than 4-in-10 Republicans said they support birthright citizenship.

Even more, 65 percent, who voted for former President Trump said they oppose birthright citizenship while only 35 percent said they support the policy. Those who consider themselves “conservative” and “very conservative” oppose birthright citizenship by about 61-t0-63 percent.

Among swing voters, the issue is largely split. While 53 percent of swing voters said they support birthright citizenship, another 47 percent said they oppose the policy.

The survey reveals that opposition to birthright citizenship is a mostly mainstream position among Republicans, conservatives, and Trump supporters.

Population estimates released in February showed that the U.S. is now home to nearly five million anchor babies whose parents are either illegal aliens or foreign nationals with little-to-no ties to the U.S.

Analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) finds that, on average, roughly 300,000 anchor babies are born to illegal aliens every year and about 72,000 anchor babies are born to foreign tourists, foreign visa workers, and foreign students every year.

All of these U.S.-born children, and their parents, benefit immensely from the nation’s birthright citizenship policy that guarantees American citizenship to anyone, regardless of their ties to the country, born within the parameters of the U.S.

For years, former President Trump had said he was readying a plan to end birthright citizenship with an executive order that likely would have been challenged by open borders organizations, forcing the issue potentially up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump, though, did not sign any such order while in office.

To date, the U.S. Supreme Court has never explicitly ruled that the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens must be granted automatic American citizenship, and a number of legal scholars dispute the idea.

Many leading conservative scholars argue the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment does not provide mandatory birthright citizenship to the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens or noncitizens, as these children were not subject to U.S. jurisdiction as that language was understood when the 14th Amendment was ratified.

Today’s anchor baby population exceeds the annual number of U.S. births by more than a million. Research from 2018 finds that the U.S. births of illegal aliens costs American taxpayers about $2.4 billion every year.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.