Up to $1 trillion in income and 400,000 college-educated workers could be at risk
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY - As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on the future of birthright citizenship, new research finds that eliminating citizenship at birth could result in significant economic losses for the United States. The study finds that birthright citizenship beneficiaries will have contributed trillions to the U.S. economy over a span of 100 years.
The report, published by the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) in a forthcoming issue of the Journal on Migration and Human Security, examines the economic contributions of people born in the United States to undocumented or temporary immigrant parents. The analysis shows that future children born to two undocumented or temporary immigrants who would benefit from birthright citizenship are projected to contribute up to $1 trillion in lifetime income to the U.S. economy over the next two decades.
The researchers also estimate that at least 400,000 future beneficiaries will work in occupations typically requiring some college education, highlighting the potential workforce implications of restricting citizenship at birth.
“Birthright citizenship has played a critical role in enabling the children of immigrants to fully participate in the U.S. economy,” said Phillip Connor, lead author of the study and a researcher at Princeton University. “Our analysis shows that future generations of Americans born to immigrant parents are likely to make substantial contributions to the nation’s workforce and economy provided they gain citizenship at birth. Those contributions will be greatly diminished if that is not the case.”
The study also evaluates the long-term economic contributions of birthright citizenship beneficiaries born from 1960 through 2044. Key findings include:
Key findings:
- $7.7 trillion in lifetime income contributions to the U.S. economy and 3.1 million workers added to the workforce between 1975 and 2074.
- Significant regional economic contributions, particularly in the American West—led by California ($2.2 trillion) and Arizona ($264 billion), in the South, led by Texas ($1.3 trillion) and Florida ($326 billion), and the Mid-Atlantic, led by New York ($257 million) and New Jersey ($201 million).
- 1.3 million current beneficiaries are already in the workforce, including workers in occupations typically requiring some college education such as healthcare (109,000) and education (63,000), as well as occupations that often require less than college education such as transportation (145,000) and construction (106,000).
The study relies on demographic and economic modeling using large-scale surveys from the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Birthright citizenship is not only a principle protected under the constitution but also a powerful engine of economic mobility and national prosperity,” said C. Mario Russell, Executive Director of the Center for Migration Studies of New York. “This research demonstrates that restricting citizenship at birth would have consequences that extend beyond individual families, potentially weakening the future strength and competitiveness of the U.S. workforce and economy.”
The estimates presented in the study are likely conservative. The analysis focuses only on U.S.-born children of two undocumented or temporary immigrant parents who were living in the United States as of 2024.
CMS will host a public webinar on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, from 1:00-2:00pm ET, featuring the study’s authors, legal experts, and economists who will discuss the research findings and their implications for the ongoing national debate over birthright citizenship. To register, visit https://bit.ly/4lI5lum.
To download the new CMS study, visit https://bit.ly/4bzg71r. For more information, please contact Rachel Reyes, CMS’s Interim Director of Communications, at rreyes@cmsny.org.
The Center for Migration Studies (CMS) is a New York-based educational institute devoted to the study of international migration, to the promotion of understanding between immigrants and receiving communities, and to public policies that safeguard the dignity and rights of migrants, refugees, and newcomers. For more information, please visit www.cmsny.org.
307 East 60th Street, Fourth Floor, New York, NY 10022 • cms@cmsny.org • www.cmsny.org
