ANCHOR BABY

'Anchor baby' or ''jackpot baby'' are terms used to refer to a child born in the United States to illegal immigrants or other non-citizens, both terms are generally characterized as pejorative. ^[1][2][3] The terms refer to the role of an "illegal alien's" child, as a US citizen, in facilitating "chain migration" under the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965. Although ''anchor baby'' has generally been characterized as a pejorative term, it has also been used, by Congressman and the press, without being so characterized.^[4][5][6]

Contents

Use of the term

Birthright citizenship

See also

References

Use of the term

The term is used by those advocating immigration reform to describe the process by which the child would become the "anchor" of a chain by which its family would receive benefits from social programs, and by which the parents themselves eventually would become lawful permanent residents or citizens of the United States. The term "anchor babies" is also used to refer to children born to women who are legally in the US on temporary visas (for example a visitor’s visa) when the child's birth is specifically intended to obtain citizenship for the child under US law; however, this is more precisely described as birth tourism.
A U.S.-born child cannot in fact sponsor his/her parents for legal immigration to the United States until he/she becomes an adult, and illegal immigrant parents do not gain any additional legal rights based solely on the fact that they have had a child born in the US.

Birthright citizenship

Main articles: Birthright citizenship in the United States of America

Under current United States federal law ^[7] and most interpretations of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which was ratified in 1868 to assure citizenship to freed slaves and their descendants, anyone born in the United States is a citizen. The majority of American-born tribal Indians
continued to live legally within the borders of the nation as non-U.S. citizens until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 changed their status; but all other individuals born within the United States, except for children of foreign diplomats, have long been considered citizens regardless of the legal status or citizenship of their parents. Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution states that:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

This is sometimes referred to as the Citizenship Clause of the US Constitution, though the meaning of the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” has been a debated issue.

See also

★ Chain immigration

★ Illegal immigration

★ Illegal immigration in the United States

★ United States nationality law

★ United States Constitution

References

1. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060402-9999-1n2tide.html
2. http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/06/23/news/top_stories/22_30_156_22_06.txt
3. "BUZZWORDS; GLOSSARY" December 24, 2006 - By GRANT BARRETT - Week in Review
4. Anchor babies tie illegal immigrants to US NBC
5. Congressman speaks against Illegal immigration
6. "Testimony before the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, & Claims - "Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to speak before this committee...''The average annual cost per child k-12 is ,161.00 and exceeds 9 billion annually for anchor babies.''"[1]
7. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001401----000-.html (8 USC § 1401)