Try the political quiz
@ISIDEWITHQuestionsImmigrationStarted 15yrs agoActive 2yrs ago

Should children of illegal immigrants be granted legal citizenship?

The 14th amendment of the U.S. constitution states that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Opponents of birth right citizenship argue that the 14th amendment is not clear since it does not specifically state that babies born to parents who were in the United States unlawfully were automatically citizens. Proponents argue that overturning the 14th amendment would increase the number of undocumented immigrants with each child born here, cost the U.S. taxpayers billions, and reduce the tax base.

+
Expand
+ Settings

Toggle voterbase

Statistics are shown for this demographic

Expert Pundits

These active users have achieved advanced knowledge of the terminology, history, and legal implications regarding the topic of Immigration

@8YB4DGP
#1 Expert Pundit
Test Your Knowledge

Answer Overview

Response rates from 1.2m America voters.

65%
Yes
35%
No
43%
Yes
29%
No
16%
Yes, if they were born here
5%
No, they must formally apply like every other new citizen
3%
Yes, but it should not grant their parents citizenship
1%
No, all illegal immigrants should be deported
2%
Yes, but only after performing 4 years of military service or graduating college
0%
Yes, and abolish all national borders

Historical Support

Trend of support over time for each answer from 1.2m America voters.

Loading data...

Loading chart... 

Historical Importance

Trend of how important this issue is for 1.2m America voters.

Loading data...

Loading chart... 

Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from America voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @4YS8D6Zfrom Oregon  answered…6yrs6Y

Children of illegal immigrants should be deported with their parents. Children of illegals who are born here should be immediately placed into foster care and the parents deported.

 @4PQN7G4from New York  answered…6yrs6Y

No! They are citizens of their parents homelands. The 14th amendment was expressly for the children of slaves. Unless the parents were legally in the US and in process of achieving permanent or citizenship status then the kids should NOT get citizenship.

 @4Q4HBM9from California  answered…6yrs6Y

if you are born in the United States of America you are a citizen

 @4RS8N5Yfrom Florida  answered…6yrs6Y

Once an illegal has committed a crime and gets deported for it he/she should be tattooed so that when he/she simply re-crosses the border anyone can see they are illegal and report them. We have had enough instances of repeat crimes from illegal aliens.

 @4JHCCKKfrom Idaho  answered…6yrs6Y

Do we REALLY want to go fight World War One again? Are people really so stupid as to not remember that widespread failure to grant citizenship rights ethnic minorities was why Ferdinand was shot and ignited a world war? Yeah, unfortunately, we probably are that stupid.

 @58F3P54from New York  answered…6yrs6Y

Yes, but only if that child was conceived here.

 @4R2CGJKfrom Wisconsin  answered…6yrs6Y

I agree with the 14th amendment: All persons born or naturalized* in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

*Naturalization is the process by which U.S. citizenship is granted to a foreign citizen or national after he or she fulfills the requirements established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act

 @4RYHLZQfrom Washington  answered…6yrs6Y

yes and we should at that moment of birth have a process in place to make the parents legal at the very least work here, unless they are engaged in criminal activities. Only then should the family be split up for the safety of the child.

Latest News

Stay up-to-date on the most recent “Immigration” news articles, updated frequently.

   @Dinesh-DSouza submitted…4 days4D

When will we KNOW if we're in the end times?

▲  43 replies

   @Dinesh-DSouza submitted…3 days3D

Are the End Times Upon Us?

▲  53 replies

Popular Conversations

Join in on the most popular conversations.

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Elizabeth Warren Walks Back Murder Comments

Congressional Democrats broadly denounced the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Friday morning, after Republicans started accusing Sen. Elizabeth Warren of excusing violence.“No one's condoning this,” said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.). “Violence never is the right answer for anything. And it was a horrible murder, a tragic loss for his family.” Warren this week condemned the shooting, but added that people “can be pushed only so far.”"We'll say it over and over," Warren said on MSNBC’S “The ReidOut.” " Violence is never the answer. This guy [Luigi Mangione] gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth, but you can only push people so far, and then they start to take matters into their own hands."In a statement to POLITICO, Warren said, “Violence is never the answer. Period. I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.” Top Republicans denounced Warren's comments and the walked-back rhetoric, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) calling it “inappropriate and dangerous.”Some House Democrats asked about the incident on Thursday pivoted the conversation to discuss policy options on health care or gun safety.“I don't really know that this is really a space that Congress normally weighs in on,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). “But at the end of the day, I think it’s an opportunity, because now people are talking about health care and to talk about the fact that this industry has honestly not been as helpful as it could be.”“Violence is never the answer,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.). “We know that there are people suffering, there’s great challenges in healthcare. There's great challenges, and people have, in fact, been wronged, but a process of governance is the way to address that, not violence.”And Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) who denounced the murder, said the killer should be prosecuted and that “I do know that allegedly a ghost gun was used, and we should also ban ghost guns. There's no reason for them beyond the streets.”

▲  1614 replies

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Israeli Bombings Kill 2,300 In Lebanon in 3 weeks

Lebanese authorities say Israeli bombing has killed more than 2,300 people and injured almost 11,000, mostly in the past three weeks, with Israeli attacks reaching areas far beyond Hizbollah’s traditional bastions of support in the south.The Israeli military has ordered people living in more than a quarter of Lebanon to flee, according to a UN calculation, as its fight with the Iran-backed Shia militant group Hizbollah threatens to engulf the Mediterranean country.Lebanese authorities say Israeli bombing has killed more than 2,300 people and injured almost 11,000, mostly in the past three weeks, with Israeli attacks reaching areas far beyond Hizbollah’s traditional bastions of support in the south.More than 1mn people have fled their homes in Lebanon in under a month, according to its government, a dramatic forced movement of the population in a country of only about 5mn inhabitants with a land mass smaller than the US state of Connecticut. Israeli forces began a ground offensive in south Lebanon two weeks ago, in their fourth invasion of the country in under five decades. They had already destroyed large parts of the densely populated southern Beirut suburb where Hizbollah had its headquarters, and killed many top militant commanders in air strikes, including former leader Hassan Nasrallah.Rema Jamous Imseis, Middle East director of UNHCR, told journalists in Geneva that “over 25 per cent of [Lebanon is] under a direct Israeli military evacuation order”. “People are heeding these calls to evacuate and they’re fleeing with almost nothing,” she added, saying that 80 per cent of the shelters opened by the Lebanese government — mostly in schools — were now full.

▲  1012 replies

About This Data

Based on 1.2m responses to this question.

These results come from iSideWith's ongoing political issues survey. We collect over a million responses per day, filter out duplicate and multiple submissions, and break the results down by political party, ideology, age, state, and census demographics (income, race, education, household).

iSideWith is non-partisan — we don't advocate for any party, candidate, or position. We report what the public tells us.

Read Our Full Methodology →

Cite Or Embed This Poll

Writing about this issue? Use the live data and link back to the full results.

Cite This Poll

iSideWith. (2026). “Should children of illegal immigrants be granted legal citizenship?” — Public Opinion Poll Results. Retrieved June 22, 2026, from https://www.isidewith.com/poll/965619

Embed The Live Result

Preview