A plurality of Americans “strongly support” changing the federal law to ensure illegal migrants cannot get citizenship for their newly born children, according to a poll by Emerson College.
Thirty percent of registered voters strongly favor the rule change, while 27.5 percent of registered voters strongly oppose the change, according to the poll.
But an additional 15 percent “somewhat support” the change, and nine percent “somewhat oppose” the change.
So 45 percent support, and 37 percent oppose, curbs on birthright citizenship for the newborn children of illegal migrants. Nineteen percent said they are neutral on the issue.
There is also a deep divide between the two parties on the birth citizenship rules, which provided citizenship to roughly 400,000 children of foreigners in 2024.
“A majority of Republicans, 69%, support ending birthright citizenship compared to 25% of Democrats and 38% of independents who hold the same view,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a press release.
The poll results match a November poll for The Economist magazine.
Public opinion is important because President Donald Trump is pushing the issue into the nation’s Supreme Court, likely in 2026.
Trump’s argument is winning some support in the