A plurality of U.S. citizens do not believe children born to illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. should receive automatic U.S. citizenship, a survey from the Economist/YouGov revealed.
The survey asked, “Do you think that children born in the U.S. should automatically receive U.S. citizenship if their parents are noncitizens in the following groups,” asking about illegal aliens, specifically.
Across the board, a plurality, 47 percent, said children born to illegal aliens residing in the U.S. should not receive automatic citizenship, compared to 39 percent who believe they should and 14 percent who remain unsure.
There is dramatic variation along party lines. Most Republicans, 82 percent, do not believe children born to illegal aliens should receive automatic U.S. citizenship, compared to eight percent who believe they should. Conversely, most Democrats, 69 percent, think such children should receive automatic U.S. citizenship, while 19 percent believe they should not.
Independents are more divided, as 42 percent believe those children should automatically receive U.S. citizenship, while 39 percent do not.
The survey also asked respondents if they believe children born to refugees or asylum seekers should receive U.S. citizenship. A plurality, 48 percent, believe they should. Half of independents and a 78 percent majority of Democrats agree, while 66 percent of Republicans disagree.
However, most Americans across the board, 54 percent, do not believe birthright citizenship should extend to babies born to tourists on short visits to the U.S. However, a plurality of Democrats, 48 percent, believe it should.
The survey was taken July 3 – 6, 2026, among 1,603 respondents. It has a +/- 3.3 percent margin of error.
It follows the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling, rejecting President Donald Trump’s reform of the nation’s birthright citizenship policy. As Breitbart News reported:
The decision was 6 to 3 against Trump, but Justice Brett Kavanaugh argued that Trump and other politicians can change the rule via legislation.
“Citizenship, then and now,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, “was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.’ We keep that promise today.”
The right applies even to foreign parents who sneak across the United States borders with Canada and Mexico, or who enter as temporary workers or tourists, Roberts insisted.
Trump has since laid out a path for Congress to end birthright citizenship after the SCOTUS decision, stating in part, “We can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process.”
He added, “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary!”
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