61% Oppose U.S. Citizenship for Children Born to Illegal Immigrants

by Regina Cantu @ Matt.org

Several Republican senators are seeking to amend the law that grants full U.S. citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants in this country, and voters strongly support such an effort.

Six out of 10 U.S. voters say children born in the country to illegal immigrants should not be guaranteed citizenship, aRasmussen reports poll released Tuesday indicated.

The national telephone survey revealed that the 61 percent who agree is the highest figure on the question in five years. Fewer than three out of 10, or 28 percent, feel that children born to illegal immigrants in this country should automatically become American citizens as is currently the practice, down 6 percentage points since August ’10.

The Constitution was amended after the Civil War to guarantee citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, independent of their parents’ status. That means a change would require another constitutional amendment.

Republicans, at 77 percent, and independents, at 63 percent, are more likely to oppose birthright citizenship than Democrats, who are evenly divided on the issue.

The poll found overwhelming support for requiring anyone seeking federal or state benefits to prove citizenship: Eighty-four percent (84%) of voters believe that before anyone receives local, state or federal government services, they should be required to prove they are legally allowed to be in the United States. Only nine percent (9%) oppose such a requirement.

A majority of those surveyed said the federal government encourages illegal immigration. They were split on whether states should adopt their own immigration policies.

After reviewing the results of this poll, Congressman Steve King released the following statement today,

“Americans want their borders secured, and they understand that the practice of granting birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens undermines border security by encouraging illegal aliens to sneak into the country,” said King. “The current practice of granting birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens is not mandated by the U.S. Constitution. We now know that 61% of Americans oppose the practice of granting birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens, and my legislation, H.R. 140, gives Congress the means to address this issue. It is important that Congress close the birthright citizenship loophole, and this high level of support makes it much more likely that Congress will.”

King has introduced legislation that is designed to end the current practice of granting automatic U.S. citizenship to the children of illegal aliens upon their birth in the country. King’s legislation, the “Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011″ currently has 73 cosponsors.