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Illegal immigrants' high birth rate feeds debate about citizenship
Pew study shows that immigrant group has higher fertility rates, more likely to be married and of child-bearing age


August 12, 2010


Brenda Narvaez sees herself as a typical American teenager who works at a mall, likes to spend time outdoors, watches soccer and loves sappy songs.

But the Miami high-schooler worries about her future because her mom is an illegal immigrant who could be deported at any time. That would create havoc for Brenda, 15, and her 10-year-old brother, both born in the United States.

The two are part of a growing population of children caught in a debate about their parents' status and the validity of their citizenship. Immigration-enforcement hardliners call them "anchor babies" because they see them as their ticket to benefits and legal status for families. Immigrant advocates say that's too cynical a view.

A new analysis from the Pew Hispanic Center, a research organization in Washington, D.C., finds that unauthorized immigrants are having babies in the United States at a higher rate than the general population.

"When you look at the characteristics of the [immigrant] group, you see it's a younger population, and that means more of them are in child-bearing ages. We know more of them are likely to be married, and there's a lot of evidence that their fertility rates are higher," said study co-author Jeffrey Passel, a demographer.

Children of illegal immigrants accounted for 340,000 out of the 4.3 million babies born in 2008, the latest year for which figures were available, and they now add up to an estimated 4 million Americans, according to the Pew analysis of census and other migration data. That's nearly 1 of every 13 Americans born in 2008. The children of illegal immigrants accounted for 8 percent of all babies, even though those immigrants are about 4 percent of the adult population.

Some are calling for repeal of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to take away birthright citizenship from those children.

"The first time I heard that, I was on my way to work and that just broke my heart and made me sick to my stomach," Brenda said. "All the time my mother has told me go to school, make something of yourself and you will be able to have a better life. But they want to take that away."

Immigration has been a hot button issue in the United States and in Florida recently. Attorney General Bill McCollum, who has been trailing Rick Scott in the race for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, on Wednesday proposed a bill that would require police officers to verify a suspect's immigration status during all lawful stops, detentions and arrests when reasonable suspicion exists.

`` Arizona is going to want this law,'' said McCollum, referring to the controversy over a similar law enacted in that state. ``We're better, we're stronger, we're tougher and we're fairer.''

Steven Camarota, research director of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., which calls for lower immigration levels, thinks that curtailing illegal immigration overall would be the best way to address the children's impact, but he said there are practical reasons why pro-enforcement advocates focus on the children.

"These children are immediately eligible for every single social program, and it matters because illegal immigrants tend to be quite poor," Camarota said. "There is a fiscal issue that matters when it comes to eligibility to everything from food stamps to Medicaid."

Subhash Kateel, a community organizer with the Florida Immigrant Coalition in Miami, said the figures could be used to make exactly the opposite argument: Immigrants are here to stay and have grown deep roots in American society. Their children are the future nurses, police officers, teachers and engineers, he said.

"They are people who have been here for years and are part of the community," Kateel said. "The discussion of taking away citizenship is unconstitutional, un-American and flat-out racist."

Josie Bacallao, president of Hispanic Unity of Florida, an advocacy group based in Hollywood, said in a statement that the Pew study points out that immigration is "a very complex issue and clearly these children are part of American families."

She added, "I am saddened by the attempt by certain individuals who want to destroy our constitution and the 14th amendment. They do not represent our American values. "

In Miami, Susana Barciela, policy director for the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, said "Children of immigrants are assets to this country."

Some immigrant advocates were wary of the politics surrounding the birthright citizenship debate.

"Our commitment is to the health care of the people who come to us, and not where they were born," said Barbara Vilaseca, executive director of Caridad Center in Boynton Beach. Many of the clinic's patients are from Mexico and Guatemala.

Sister Ann Kendrick, a Roman Catholic nun with the Hope CommUnity Center in Apopka, said the discussion about immigrants' children is just a sign of how extreme the debate has become.

"I don't know of anybody in all my years here who came to just have a baby," Kendrick said. "People come here desperate because they need something better for their family and they want to have a job and they want their kids to go to school and they want good things for their families."

Sun Sentinel staff writer Mike Clary contributed to this report.

VÃ*ctor Manuel Ramos can be reached at vramos@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6186.