A study by a Penn State professor and the national Migration Policy Institute reports repealing birthright citizenship could cause the illegal immigrant population to rapidly expand in future decades.
By the most conservative estimate, the population of illegal immigrants would rise from 11 million to 16 million by 2050, said Jennifer Van Hook, Penn State professor of sociology and demographics, principal author of the study and non-resident fellow at the Migration Policy Institute.
“This would dampen enthusiasm on their part for doing better,” Van Hook said. “If their opportunities are blocked, because they don’t have legal right, their integration would be slowed down.”
Van Hook co-authored the study with Michael Fix, Migration Policy Institute senior vice president and director of studies.
The study was publicized in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
Van Hook said the debates this summer focused on the goal of reducing the number of illegal immigrants coming into the country in the first place.
“The idea of repealing birthright citizenship was based on the idea that most of the people coming here wanted their children to have U.S. citizenship,” Van Hook said.
“These debates were missing a whole other dimension, because they weren’t looking at the long-term effects of repealing birthright citizenship.”
As a demographer, Van Hook was able to provide insight about those long-term effects, she said.
The Birthright Citizenship Act currently being debated by Congress would only repeal citizenship for children born to two illegal immigrants.
Read the full story at the Daily Collegian.
Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.