Illegal aliens, tourists, and foreign visa workers delivered nearly 400,000 children across the United States in 2024 — exceeding the population of New Orleans, Louisiana.
The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that almost 400,000 “anchor babies,” the term used to describe the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens and other foreign nationals with no ties to the country, are delivered across all 50 states each year.
Anchor babies are rewarded with birthright American citizenship despite their parents having no legitimate ties to the U.S., many having only recently arrived. Years later, when the child is considered an adult, they can sponsor their parents and foreign relatives for green cards — anchoring their family in the U.S. for generations.
In 2024, close to 300,000 anchor babies are estimated to have been delivered to illegal alien parents. In addition, about 72,000 anchor babies were estimated to have been delivered to foreign tourists, foreign visa workers, and foreign students.
President-Elect Donald Trump has promised to end birthright citizenship in his second term. Recent polling finds that a plurality of Americans, including 48 percent of whites and 42 percent of Hispanics, support Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship.
“On day one of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law going forward the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship,” Trump said in 2023.
The U.S. Supreme Court has never explicitly ruled that the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens must be granted birthright citizenship, and many 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, because these children are not subject to United States jurisdiction as that language was understood when the 14th Amendment was ratified.
The United States and Canada are among only a handful of developed nations, mostly in North and South America, that have a birthright citizenship policy for anyone, regardless of immigration status, born within its physical borders.
Australia, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, and Spain, among other countries, reserve birthright citizenship for children born to at least one citizen parent.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.