Fact check: Can illegal immigrants give birth in the U.S. to naturalized children

1. Summary of the results

The analyses confirm that yes, children born to illegal immigrants in the United States automatically become U.S. citizens under current constitutional law. This principle, known as birthright citizenship or jus soli, is firmly established by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that "all persons born in the United States are citizens, regardless of their parents' immigration status, with only a few narrow exceptions" ^[1].

The Supreme Court definitively ruled on this matter in the 1898 case *United States v. Wong Kim Ark*, establishing that "the 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship to anyone born in the United States, including the children of parents who are not U.S. citizens" ^[1]. This legal precedent has been "the law of the land for over a century" and is "based in English common law" ^[2].

Recent legal challenges to this principle have been unsuccessful. Federal courts have consistently ruled against attempts to end birthright citizenship, with "a federal appeals court in San Francisco" ruling "that President Trump's order seeking to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional" ^[3]. Legal experts widely agree that "President Trump cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order, as it is a right established by the 14th Amendment" ^[2].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks several important contextual elements:

• Constitutional requirements for change: The analyses reveal that altering birthright citizenship would require a constitutional amendment, not merely executive action or legislation, making such changes extremely difficult to implement ^{[2] [4]}.
• Counterproductive policy outcomes: Research from the Migration Policy Institute and Penn State's Population Research Institute shows that "ending birthright citizenship would increase the unauthorized population by an additional 2.7 million by 2045 and by 5.4 million by 2075" ^[5]. This finding suggests that "repealing birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children of unauthorized immigrants would have a contrary result from its stated aim of reducing unauthorized immigration" ^[5].
• Current enforcement challenges: The analyses indicate that even with birthright citizenship in place, there are documented cases of "U.S. citizen children being deported with their undocumented mothers" during immigration enforcement actions ^[6], highlighting the complex practical implications of family separation policies.
• Ongoing legal battles: The Trump administration plans to appeal the constitutionality of executive orders challenging birthright citizenship "to the Supreme Court, which could lead to a high-profile case with a ruling possible by mid-2026" ^[7].

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question contains a significant terminological error that could perpetuate confusion about immigration law. The question asks about "naturalized children," but children born in the United States are not naturalized citizens—they are natural-born citizens. Naturalization is the legal process by which foreign-born individuals become U.S. citizens, while birthright citizenship creates natural-born citizens automatically upon birth on U.S. soil.

This distinction is crucial because:

• Natural-born citizens (including those born to illegal immigrants) are eligible to serve as President of the United States
• Naturalized citizens cannot serve as President under current constitutional law
• The terminology confusion could inadvertently suggest these children have lesser citizenship rights

The framing of the question may also reflect bias by using the term "illegal immigrants" rather than more neutral terminology like "undocumented immigrants" or "unauthorized immigrants," though this does not affect the legal accuracy of the constitutional analysis provided in the sources.