"Anchor baby" is a term for a child born in the U.S. to an illegal immigrant mother. A similar term, "Passport baby", has been used in Canada for children born through so-called "Maternity" or "Birth tourism".
In the U.S., there is a popular misconception that the child's U.S. citizenship status legally helps the child's parents and siblings to quickly reclassify their visa status and to place them on a fast pathway to acquire lawful permanent residence and eventually United States citizenship.
Current U.S. federal law prevents anyone under the age of 21 from being able to petition for their non-citizen parent to be lawfully admitted into the United States for permanent residence. At best, the child's family would need to wait for 21 years before being able to use their child's U.S. citizenship to modify their immigration status.
The term "anchor child", referring in this case to "very young immigrants who will later sponsor immigration for family members who are still abroad", was used in reference to Vietnamese boat people from about 1987. "Anchor baby" appeared in print in 1996, but remained relatively obscure until 2006, when it found new prominence amid the increased focus on the immigration debate in the United States. Lexicographer Grant Barrett nominated the term for the American Dialect Society's 2006 Word of the Year.
In 2011 the American Heritage Dictionary added an entry for the term in the dictionary's new edition. As of 2012, the definition reads:
n. Offensive Used as a disparaging term for a child born to a noncitizen mother in a country that grants automatic citizenship to children born on its soil, especially when the child's birthplace is thought to have been chosen in order to improve the mother's or other relatives' chances of securing eventual citizenship.
As of 2015, Los Angeles is considered the center of the maternity tourism industry; authorities in the city there closed 14 maternity tourism "hotels" in 2013. The industry is difficult to close down since it is perfectly legal for a pregnant woman to travel to the U.S. On March 3, 2015, Federal Agents in Los Angeles conducted a series of raids on 3 "multi-million-dollar birth-tourism businesses" expected to produce the "biggest federal criminal case ever against the booming 'Anchor baby' industry", according to the Wall Street Journal.
H.R.140 - Birthright Citizenship Act of 2015, Rep. King, Steve [R-IA-4] (Introduced 01/06/2015)
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to consider a person born in the United States "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States for citizenship at birth purposes if the person is born in the United States of parents, one of whom is: (1) a U.S. citizen or national, (2) a lawful permanent resident alien whose residence is in the United States, or (3) an alien performing active service in the U.S. Armed Forces. This Act shall not be construed to affect the citizenship or nationality status of any person born before the date of its enactment.
This bill tries to address undocumented pregnant mothers but not the birth-tourism business.
What is your thoughts on this issue?
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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