Why call them "anchor-babies" instead of first generation citizens?

Question

Do you not want to claim them as fellow citizens?

Alexandra, they VERY MUCH ARE legal citizens. I know a baby that happened to be born in the US, he is a natural born citizen and is actually living in Mexico now. He was born here, and will always be a fellow citizen, but he is in no way an anchor.

It would not be in the best interest of the baby to leave them alone in any country. I am scared by the idea of a detention camp. Sounds too WWII for me!

Answer 1

i do agree the term anchor baby is disrespectful , it is not their fault how they came so they should not be punish for something which was done before they were even born . this was a name which was created as a racist connotation by racists and for people which do not have any respect .

it is really a shame the way how they ignore the human rights of babies just whit the excuse that they are not the only ones and then go around judging and telling others how they do the same . the abuses of others do not justify our own abuses and the time when America used to abuse others must come to an end .

America must be change to back to being the land of opportunity , a country which was created whit the help of all countries whit the people from all over the world . if we even dare saying that only someone who came whit all the legal rights should be here then we shouldn't even be here not matter how white we look and how green our eyes are .

Answer 2

Actually, no- I don't want to call them that. First generation/American born citizens should be the children of parents who are legal immigrants. (And ALL citizens should love their country.) Most anchor babies will follow their parent's ideas- they will still pledge most of their loyalty to Mexico and just view the USA as a place to get money and work. They are not like the legal immigrants that have to go through a lot to become citizens and that love their new country. Also, we must remember: The reason that most illegals have large families is to make sure that if there ever was a threat to deport THEM, they can always just say "Well, who will take care of my children?" (I'm sure you can find me a few cases that are exceptions to this, but not many.

Answer 3

A "First Generation Citizen" Would Be The Child Of An Immigrant The Child Of An ILLEGAL ALIEN Is An ILLEGAL ALIEN


Some Americans speak of birthright citizenship
as if it were an immutable law of nature.
It is not, and most other nations do not, in fact, recognize it.
It is only a BAD HABIT that could be broken
with a simple Executive Order.

According to estimates,
some 200,000 so-called anchor babies are born
in the United States every year.
Once a mother has birthed a child on American soil,
she can then seek to obtain citizenship for herself
on the strength of the family-reunification laws.
Even before this happens, she is very hard to deport,
as the mother of an American,
and the full panoply of welfare benefits is available to her,
as is affirmative action if she is a member of a racial minority.

A group of attorneys and immigration experts
are trying to do something about the problem RIGHT NOW.

Craig Nelsen,
director of Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement Stated :
"The situation we have today is absurd,
There is a huge and growing industry in Asia
that arranges tourist visas for pregnant women
so they can fly to the United States and give birth to an American.
This was not the intent of the Fourteenth Amendment;
it makes a mockery of citizenship."
(Sound Familiar??)

The key to undoing the current misinterpretation
of the Fourteenth Amendment is this odd phrase

"AND SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION THEREOF."

The whole problem is caused by the fact that the meaning of this phrase,
which was clear to anyone versed in legal language in 1868,
has slipped with changes in usage.
Fortunately, there is a large group of court precedents
that make clear what the phrase actually means:

The Fourteenth Amendment
EXCLUDES the children of aliens.
(The Slaughterhouse Cases (83 U.S. 36 (1873))

The Fourteenth Amendment
draws a distinction between the children of aliens
and children of citizens.
(Minor v. Happersett (88 U.S. 162 (1874))

The phrase "subject to the jurisdiction" REQUIRES
"Direct And Immediate ALLEGIENCE" to the United States,
NOT just physical presence.
(Elk v. Wilkins 112 U.S. 94 (1884))

There is NO automatic birthright citizenship
in a particular case.
(Wong Kim Ark Case, 169 U.S. 649 (1898))

The Supreme Court has NEVER confirmed birthright citizenship
for the children of illegal aliens, temporary workers, and tourists.
(Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 211 n.10 (1982))

There are other cases referring to minor details of the question.

Answer 4

Again, this has been a misinterpretation of laws which were developed for another purpose...and not corrected.

We are now working to eliminate the "anchor baby" idea and cause that those illegally here cannot claim residency for their children born here.

Did you hear about the 2,000 bed detention camp being built in Centerville, Utah? It will be completed this September and will house illegals for processing and deportation....Go online and read the Ogden, Utah newspaper dated August 1...it's all there.

So, do the illegals take their anchor babies with them, or leave them?

Answer 5

Because the ones being referred to are used for a purpose. There is an entire industry in Korea, for example, of flying pregnant women here to give birth in the US. Those children typically return to Korea, so we don't have to pay to raise them, but at 18 they come back and bring in their family.

Other pregnant women walk across the border pregnant and into a US hospital in labor, to try to make that child a US citizen when the parent isn't even here legally. ( The US Supreme court specifically reserved to decide later the question of whether such a child would be a citizen, but agencies treat them as such.) They specifically 'anchor' the parent and child into this country.

That is gaming of our laws. I think the family unification preferences need to be abolished so family can only come in if they apply under existing quotas, rather than coming in 'above quota' amounts if they are related to an of age citizen, at least where that citizen didn't have a citizen parent at time of their birth. Otherwise the foreigner is able to leverage themself, which is not the purpose of our laws.

Clarification: I don't consider every first generation citizen an anchor baby. I only consider them that if their parents are illegal aliens and they are being used for the purpose described above.

Answer 6

Hypocrites... between the the rationalization why the so talked about as "tremendous divide" is that different area do no longer want to play ball because this president is a black guy. they only won't be able to face him. This guy isn't a liberal contained in the actual sense of the be conscious. only admit that maximum conservatives will in no way in no way like him even if he brings Jesus and Mohammad to the same table. We were presented with 2 alternatives, Obama or Mccain and particularly frankly even if Obama changed into no longer the perfect decision, it changed into better positive than the latter. The divide changed into engineered by ability of the right and that is a fact. Hypocrites individuals!!!

Answer 7

They call them anchor babies because they are babies born to illegal aliens, they cross U.S soil just to have them. So that their baby will automatically be a citizen here. Then they use that as an excuse to stay in the U.S...just like a ship uses an anchor to stay put.

Answer 8

Because some people believe that those children were conceived and born for the sole purpose of allowing their parents to stay in this country.

Answer 9

Anchor babies are NOT American citizens. There was a provision in the 14th Amendment that addressed this.

Answer 10

It is dishonest to sneak into the US illegally and then give birth so that you can cry and say "Don't send me back! My poor baby!"

The poor child will have to grow up knowing his only reason for living was a crime.

I say that all illegal aliens, their children, their spouses (if they are immgrants) and any immigrant who helped them sneak into the US should all be immediately deported.