By Brigette Gabriel, ACT for America – July 16, 2026
On July 13, 2026, Senator Jim Banks introduced the Citizenship Act of 2026 to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens and birth tourists. The bill codifies President Trump’s Executive Order declaring a southern border invasion and amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny automatic citizenship to children born to unauthorized entrants or those engaging in birth tourism. It defines such entrants as invaders under federal law, codifies the common-law exception to birthright citizenship, affirms Congress’s authority over naturalization, and protects states from invasion.
Since 2000, over 8 million births to unauthorized immigrant mothers have occurred in the United States, granting citizenship under current policy. Pew Research data shows roughly 300,000 such births in 2023 alone—9% of all U.S. births—with totals exceeding 6.7 million from 2001-2023 and rising further through 2026 amid record 14 million unauthorized immigrants.
These births have imposed staggering costs. The House Budget Committee reports $69 billion annually in education expenses for children of illegal immigrants, most U.S.-born citizens. Extrapolated across 26 years since 2000, American taxpayers have shouldered over $1.5 trillion in education costs alone. Broader estimates from FAIR place total net annual costs of illegal immigration—including welfare, healthcare, and enforcement accessed via these citizen children—at more than $150 billion per year. Cumulative burdens since 2000 exceed $3 trillion when including all services and lost opportunities for American families.
This money is taken directly from U.S. citizens, driving up national debt passed to our children and grandchildren through higher future taxes and strained entitlements. We will not allow this to continue under our watch!
Here is how Chain Migration works and expands:
Each birthright citizen creates a pathway for unlimited chain migration. Once the child turns 21, they can sponsor their illegal alien parents—and later siblings, grandparents, and extended family—as immediate relatives with no numerical caps. What begins as one illegal entry or birth tourism case can multiply into dozens of additional legal immigrants over time, all tied back to the original policy loophole. This mechanism has already contributed to millions of additional legal inflows on top of the direct births.
Here is the real danger: Political Power Shift and Eroded Sovereignty
Including non-citizens and their U.S.-born children in the Census for apportionment shifts congressional seats and Electoral College votes toward high-immigration states. Analyses by the Center for Immigration Studies show this has redistributed multiple House seats to states like California, Texas, New York, and Florida at the expense of lower-immigration states with higher percentages of native-born citizens. This dilutes the voting power of Americans in heartland states and rewards jurisdictions that attract or tolerate illegal immigration.
