ROOKE: SCOTUS Flips The Bird To Young Americans

The U.S. Supreme Court just handed birthright citizenship to illegal immigrants’ children and birth tourists; the implications for young Americans will be severe.

In Trump v. Barbara, SCOTUS struck down President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive order that would have denied automatic U.S. citizenship to children born in the U.S. if neither parent was a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. This part of the decision was somewhat expected. However, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution the principle that nearly all children born on U.S. soil are citizens at birth. There is a narrow exception for children born to foreign diplomats, but other than those, birth tourists and illegal immigrants have free rein to give their children U.S. citizenship.

🚨 Justice Alito in his dissent: “The Court’s interpretation is not only contrary to the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, it produces grotesque results.” https://t.co/OrHxALsYVC pic.twitter.com/2zjShEvjMG

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 30, 2026

In large part, this means that the dynamics of “anchor babies” (U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants) and birth tourism continue as before, with no immediate policy change. However, the way the opinion was written also means that, aside from Congress passing a Constitutional amendment, the only way to fix this is for a new court to overturn the decision, similar to what happened with Roe v. Wade. It took 49 years to end federally protected abortions, and a lot of bad can happen in the U.S. should it take that long to overturn birthright citizenship. (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)

The number of “anchor babies” born in the U.S. every year is no small number. Births to illegal immigrant parents amount to roughly 225,000–300,000 per year. The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) estimated that 225,000–250,000 anchor babies were born in 2023, accounting for about 7 percent of total U.S. births. Pew Research estimated around 245,000 babies were born in the U.S. to illegal immigrant mothers in 2023, part of 320,000 total births to illegal immigrant or temporary-status mothers, equating to about 9 percent of total U.S. births.

Birth tourism is an insidious practice where foreigners travel to the U.S. specifically to give birth for citizenship, often on tourist or other temporary visas. Our greatest adversaries, like China and Russia, frequently take advantage of this birthright citizenship loophole, albeit on a smaller scale than illegal immigrants. CIS has put the number of children born via birth tourism at around 33,000 per year.

pic.twitter.com/O4liqG5LKY

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 30, 2026

Even at the most conservative number, this means that if it takes 49 years to overturn Trump v. Barbara, over 12 million anchor and birth tourism babies will be given U.S. citizenship. What does this mean for American citizens and their children?

We know that the ruling keeps incentives in place that encourage illegal immigration and exploitation of our citizenship system. It doesn’t take much to see what effect this has already had on young Americans.

Illegal immigrant households (and their U.S.-born citizen children) generate an estimated net annual tax burden of $150.7 billion, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform’s (FAIR) 2023 analysis.

In high-immigration states like California, Texas, and New York, schools incur higher costs to educate students with English as a second language. The sheer volume means larger classrooms, less attention for each student, and strained budgets. American citizens’ children compete for the same resources as illegal immigrants and birth tourists.

As they age out of K-12 education, young Americans will struggle to compete in the U.S. college and university system, leaving more Americans without a path to upward mobility and access to the American dream. If they are successful at gaining admission into higher education, they will face labor market competition that their parents never did.

Not only that, but their influence on political and policy decisions is weakened. There will certainly be incredible shifts impacted by the voting patterns of these new “citizens.” While there will be no direct loss of rights for young Americans, the indirect effects through taxes, crowded infrastructure, and diluted self-governance will continue to whittle away at the American Dream.

One of the major milestones largely accepted as proof of the American Dream is homeownership. The average age of first-time homebuyers in the U.S. is between 35 and 40 years old. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers found that the median age of first-time homebuyers reached a record high of 40 years old. Additionally, first-time buyers made up a record-low 21 percent of all buyers. Redfin’s analysis puts the median age a bit lower, at 35 years old. For comparison, in the 1980s, first-time buyers were often in their late 20s.

US First-Time Homebuyers, Median Age (via NAR)

2025: 40
2024: 38
2023: 35
2022: 36
2021: 33
—
2018: 32
2015: 31
2010: 30
—
1981: 29 https://t.co/nSpK5BC7Yf

— Morning Brew ☕️ (@MorningBrew) November 4, 2025

This ties directly to affordability and homebuying opportunities for millennials and Gen Z, but will only get worse for future generations. Rapid population growth from all sources of immigration (legal and illegal) increases household formation and demand, especially in high-immigration states. A 2025 Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report found that in California and New York, immigrants have driven all recent growth in rental housing and more than half of the growth in homes that people own. Nationwide, the foreign-born population has been responsible for more than 60 percent of the increase in rental demand.

Additional demand from hundreds of thousands of new “citizens” annually through birthright exacerbates the pressure for young Americans already struggling with high rents and down payments. This dynamic makes ownership almost impossible for them.

Steven A. Camarota, Director of Research for CIS, testified before the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, detailing the disastrous consequences of immigration on American citizens.

“Adding millions of people to the country through immigration drives up the cost of housing and reduces affordability relative to wages in areas of heavy settlement. Fiscally, illegal immigrants are a net drain — they create more in costs than they pay in taxes,” Camarota stated.

“This is primarily due to their low average education levels, which results in low average earnings and tax payments. Their lower incomes and education cause a large share to qualify for welfare programs, typically through their U.S.-born children. Illegal immigration also increases the supply of labor, impacting the wages and employment of some American workers, often the poorest and least educated,” he added.

The SCOTUS ruling maintains a system where birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and temporary visitors continues to facilitate sustained population growth. It increases the broader opportunity costs for young Americans. Inflation, the cost of living, housing prices, and an increased labor supply disproportionately affect young Americans trying to start families, buy homes, or build wealth. Their access to the American Dream is not only no longer a guarantee but is rapidly disappearing. (RELATED: Loophole In Birthright Citizenship Lets Adversaries Build Undetectable Spy Networks)

SCOTUS has essentially made the U.S. an inviting environment for illegal immigrants and birth tourists, while simultaneously making it increasingly hostile for actual Americans. And the only real remedy would require a Constitutional amendment, which is not likely to happen.

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