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Published: Jul 9, 2005
Modified: Jul 9, 2005 12:15 PM
Study: Births to immigrant mothers up fourfold in N.C.

The Associated Press

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The number of births to immigrant mothers more than quadrupled in North Carolina from 1990-2002, according to a study by a group that supports stronger immigration control.

Births to immigrant mothers made up 16.7 percent of all births in the state in 2002, up from about 4 percent in 1990. The study, released Thursday by the nonprofit Center for Immigration Studies, estimates that 8 percent of all births in the state are to illegal immigrants.

"The findings of this report show that America is headed to uncharted territory," wrote Steven Camarota, the author of "Births to Immigrants in America, 1970 to 2002."

The rate of births to immigrants may "overwhelm the assimilation process, making it difficult to integrate these new second-generation Americans," Camarota wrote.

Nationally, the study found that in 2002, 23 percent of all American births were to immigrant mothers, both legal and illegal. Of those children, 45 percent were born to Mexican mothers.

Hispanic and immigrant advocates criticized the study as a partisan attack on immigrants and a veiled criticism of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees birthright citizenship.

Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group, questioned its calculation of illegal immigrant mothers, a population that is difficult to count.

Camarota said one way to test the estimate of babies born to illegal immigrants is to check with local hospitals.

But Mike Horn, a spokesman for Forsyth Medical Center, said it's impossible to tell how many of those mothers are here illegally since the hospital does not ask about a mother's citizenship status.

The Center for Immigration Studies is a Washington think tank that says it wants fewer immigrants "but a warmer welcome for those admitted."

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Information from: Winston-Salem Journal, http://www.journalnow.com