Born in the U.S.A.

If we want more American babies, anti-immigration policies won't help

As a midwife, I follow the plunging U.S. birth rate with more than casual interest because I’m professionally tangled up in whatever direction this baby-having trend takes. The debate over what’s causing it, how to fix it, and even if it’s a crisis at all is complex, fascinating, and befuddling.

But it’s become hard for me to ignore the contradiction between politicians who advocate for more births while pushing policies that limit immigration, end birthright citizenship, and deport immigrant families with U.S. born children. A quarter of children born in the U.S. has at least one immigrant parent. What do we honestly think will happen to our birth rate if these policies come to pass?

From my vantage point working mostly with immigrant and first-generation American moms, it seems that baby-having is alive and well. I’ll never forget my crazy Fourth of July shift a few years ago. I caught four babies, every one of them the child of immigrants. On this particular shift, I had one mom who was Indian, another from Africa, and two from Latin America. As I passed the baton to my coworker at the end of my shift, I mused that “they’re all American babies now.”

And I watch it happen. These kids grow up, go to public schools, and learn to speak English. Whatever path they take, people like me, now in my 40s, will depend on their success to sustain programs like Medicare and Social Security—systems already strained as the number of working-age Americans decreases. It’s crazy to think that the babies I first caught 18 years ago as a student midwife are now graduating from high school, starting college, filling essential jobs and starting careers. And as much as I love my job, I’d like to retire some day, so…get to work, kids! 😜

Some conservatives cling to hope that a Trump Baby Bump, the observation that conservative-leaning counties have higher fertility rates than liberal ones, bodes well for future fertility. But by their own reporting, the more non-Hispanic whites in a county, the lower its birth rate. Policies that seek to rid our country of immigrant families will only plunge U.S. birth rates, which have already fallen far below replacement level, even further. Some people claim to “want more babies in the United States of America” but quietly add a condition: not those immigrant babies.

As a midwife, I care far less about the race or ethnicity of the babies whose births I attend, and far more about the circumstances they are born into. There is nothing more gratifying than passing a baby into the hands of devoted parents, knowing that they are going home to a loving family. With the right tools to thrive—good nutrition, solid education, and health care—they will one day grow into contributing citizens.

Yet, I can’t ignore the fact that many of these children will instead face anti-immigrant backlash and discrimination, often compounded by harmful policies that slash programs like Medicaid, food stamps, and funding for public schools, and laws that make legal paths to immigration nearly impossible. Beyond that, their parents are sometimes excluded from the formal economy despite their attempts to immigrate legally.

I know not all Americans view immigrants favorably. Undoubtedly, the challenges of a multicultural society are real. As someone who works primarily with immigrant and refugee populations, I’m often stretched out of my comfort zone. I speak Spanish, but Rohingya, Karen, and Wolof? My workdays (and nights!) can be long. Yet, despite the occasional language barriers or cultural differences, it’s heartwarming to witness the pride immigrant families feel in their children’s American citizenship, and to watch these children growing up to be proud Americans like the rest of us.

I’m not alone in my optimism. Every day, I see acts of kindness from Americans working to help their immigrant neighbors and friends. These moments cut across political beliefs, income brackets, and the rural-urban divide.

A friend from my small Iowa hometown rallied her neighbors on Facebook to collect winter clothes for a Haitian family—and smashed her goal in a single day. My ELCA Lutheran church raised funds to pay an attorney representing a family who fled El Salvador because their teenage son was receiving death threats from gang members. They won their asylum case. At our local food pantry, I watched an African American volunteer patiently using the Google Translate app on his phone to figure out what a Chinese immigrant family needed.

Witnessing scenes like this makes me wonder: will Americans really put up with immigration raids, children separated from their parents, and non-violent immigrants languishing in detention centers? Will it come to this? What will we do?

This is why I feel confused. The anti-immigrant rhetoric I see in the news just doesn’t match the feelings or actions of the people I know in my neighborhood, at my church, or at my workplace.

I want to finish by talking about Giannis Antetokounmpo, the hero of my hometown. Ok, you’re probably wondering how an NBA star ends up on a midwifery blog. Are you aware that Giannis was a stateless person until age 19? Even though he was born in Greece, a country that is famously horrible to immigrants, Greece did not recognize him as a citizen UNTIL he became a famous basketball star, because he was born to Nigerian immigrants. Later, of course, they wanted him and his brother to play on their Olympic team.🙄

If I were Giannis, the temptation to say “STUFF IT” would have been overwhelming. But he’s a really good person. If you need more proof, here’s a recent photo from his Facebook: “Giannis Antetokounmpo Donates Food, Serves Residents at Milwaukee Community Center.”

I guess my point is, we don’t know which of these American babies will grow up to be an important scientist, entrepreneur, or basketball star. And it shouldn’t really matter. If our culture accepts this anti-immigrant rhetoric and adopts these anti-immigrant policies, it will damage our birth rate and our economy. But beyond that, it will damage our souls. ☮️