One of the most obvious and enduring impacts of immigration occurs through immigrants' children. Long after immigrants pass on, their descendants will continue to shape the political, economic, and cultural life in the receiving society.
Examining births to immigrants is thus a way of measuring the scale of immigration and its impact on the United States. Because the United States automatically awards citizenship to all persons born in the country, including those born to temporary visitors or illegal immigrants, the overwhelming majority of these children will stay in the United States.
Illegal aliens can obtain welfare benefits such as Medicaid
and food stamps on behalf of their U.S.-born children. Many of the welfare
costs associated with illegal immigration, therefore, are due to the Executive
Branch’s current interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship
Clause. http://cis.org/immigrant-welfare-use-2011
Currently, 71% of
illegal-alien headed households with children make use of at least one major
welfare program. http://cis.org/immigrant-welfare-use-2011
• U.S.-born children
of illegal aliens are entitled to American public schools, health care, and
more, even though illegal-alien households rarely pay taxes. http://cis.org/immigrant-welfare-use-2011
• In 1994, 74,987
anchor babies in California hospital maternity units cost $215 million and
constituted 36 percent of all Medi-Cal [California’s Medicaid program] births.
Now [2005] they account for substantially more than half. http://www.jpands.org/vol10no1/cosman.pdf
