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"Anchor baby" is a derogatory term for a child born in the United States to immigrant parents, who, as an American citizen, supposedly can facilitate immigration for relatives. The term is generally used as a derogatory reference to the supposed role of the child who automatically qualifies as an American citizen and can later act as a sponsor for other family members. It has been charged that this is a politically charged term, used to spark resentment against immigrants. The term is often used in the context of the debate over illegal immigration to the United States, but is used for the child of any immigrant. Family reunification, or family-based immigration, in the United States is a lengthy process and limited to categories prescribed by provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

Statistics

An estimated 340,000-720,000 of the 4.3 million newborns in the United States in 2008 were anchor babies. Illegal immigrants make up roughly 4% of the adult population in the United States. However, because they are young and have high birthrates, their children make up a larger share of both the newborn population (8%) and the child population (7% of those younger than age 18).. In comparison, on average, less than 10,000 parents of anchor babies were deported per year over the last decade, usually after committing other crimes.. Anchor babies often retard the deportation process of their illegal immigrant parents.

In Los Angeles county in 2010, children of illegal immigrants received over $600 million in welfare benefits. Combined with public safety and health costs, the children cost the county over $1.6 billion.

As early as 1995, over $1 billion—$700 million under the AFDC program and $430 million in Food Stamp benefits—was provided to households in which either the head of household or his or her spouse was an illegal alien.

History and usage

A related 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 in the early 1980s and early 1990s.

According to the Double-Tongued Dictionary, edited by American lexicographer Grant Barrett, the term "anchor baby" means "a child born of an immigrant in the United States, said to be a device by which a family can find legal foothold in the US, since those children are automatically allowed to choose United States citizenship." In response to a reader's proposed alternate definition seeking to limit the definition of the term to children of illegal immigrants, Barrett states:

...it is used for *any* immigrant. Those who use this term tend to be opposed to *all* immigration and immigrants, not illegal immigration, especially those who use their immigration stance as a mask for racism and xenophobia.

Hispanic activist group the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) reports usage of the term towards pregnant Latinas (in reference to the child, as captured on video:)

July 7th, 2007 – Fallbrook, CA: As a funeral service gets underway at the nearby Church, a Minuteman yells "pick your slaves" to prospective day laborer employers and attempts to provoke an activist. A Minutewoman can be heard saying "anchor baby on the way" to a Latina activist who is pregnant.

Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin has asserted that "the custom of granting automatic citizenship at birth to children of tourists and temporary workers such as Yaser Esam Hamdi, tourists, and to countless 'anchor babies' delivered by illegal aliens on American soil, undermines the integrity of citizenship—not to mention national security".

Controversies

The term "anchor baby" assumes that having a US citizen child confers immigration benefits on the parents and extended family, as immigration law does allows a US citizen child to sponsor his/her parents when he/she turns 21. Once the child turns 18, immigration law also allows a US citizen child to sponsor his/her own siblings with a 15 to 23 year quota delay. Immigration law does not provide categories for any other relatives that would apply in this situation. In addition, if the parents are illegal immigrants, they are usually barred from immigration despite having a sponsor.

On August 17, 2006, Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn used the term "anchor baby" in reference to Saul Arellano, in a column critical of his mother, who had been given sanctuary at a Chicago church, and advocating her arrest and deportation on immigration-related charges. After receiving two complaints, the next day Eric Zorn stated in his defense in his Chicago Tribune blog that the term had appeared in newspaper stories since 1997, "usually softened by quotations as in my column", and stated that he regretted having used the term in his column and promised not to use it again in the future.

On August 23, 2007, the San Diego, California-area North County Times came under criticism from one of its own former columnists, Raoul Lowery Contreras, in a column titled "'Anchor babies' is hate speech", for allowing the term "anchor baby" to be printed in letters and opinion pieces.

In a September 3, 2008, debate in Danville, Virginia, Republican Congressman Virgil Goode declared that the greatest threat to America's national security was "anchor babies". He discussed H.R. 1940, the "Birthright Citizenship Act of 2007" that would have amended 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. Goode argued that H.R. 1940 would "end the anchor baby situation", and he blamed Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the fact that H.R. 1940 has not gone anywhere; his opponent, Democrat Tom Perriello, noted that similar legislation did not even make it out of committee when the Republicans controlled Congress, and that the Republican leadership, including then-President George W. Bush and then-Republican Presidential nominee John McCain, did not support the bill either.

See also

• Asylum shopping
• Birthright citizenship in the United States
• Birth tourism
• Canadians of convenience
• Chain immigration
• Illegal immigration in the United States
• United States nationality law

References

1. Barrett, Grant (December 24, 2006). "Buzzwords: Glossary". New York Times. anchor baby: a derogatory term for a child born in the United States to an immigrant. Since these children automatically qualify as American citizens, they can later act as a sponsor for other family members.
2. ^ Barrett, Grant (ed.). "Double Tongued Dictionary". Anchor baby: n. a child born of an immigrant in the United States, said to be a device by which a family can find legal foothold in the US, since those children are automatically allowed to choose American citizenship. Also anchor child, a very young immigrant who will later sponsor citizenship for family members who are still abroad.
3. Zorn, Eric (August 18, 2006). "Sinking 'Anchor Babies". Chicago Tribune. 'They use it to spark resentment against immigrants,' Rivlin said of his ideological foes. 'They use it to make these children sound non-human.' To me, that's good enough reason to regret having used it and to decide not to use it in the future.
4. ^ "Immigration and Nationality Act". Department of Homeland Security, USCIS. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
5. ^ Pew Research Center. "Unauthorized immigrants babies born United States citizens"
6. Watanabe, Teresa (April 1, 2010). "Report criticizes increased deportation of legal immigrant parents". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
7. Businessweek
8. "Welfare Tab for Children of Illegal Immigrants Estimated at $600M in L.A. County".
9. "GAO Report to Congressional Committee: ILLEGAL ALIENS, Extent of Welfare Benefits Received on Behalf of U.S. Citizen Children" (PDF).
10. "A Profile of a Lost Generation". Los Angeles Times Magazine. December 13, 1987. p. 12. They are "anchor children," saddled with the extra burden of having to attain a financial foothold in America to sponsor family members who remain in Vietnam.
11. Kelly, Frances (June 2, 1991). "Sympathy for the boat people is wearing thin". Toronto Star. p. H2. Known as "anchor" children, aid workers say the youngsters are put on boats by families who hope they'll be resettled in the United States or Canada and can then apply to have their families join them.
12. Minutemen protest near a church on YouTube
13. "We can Stop the Hate: Hate Flashpoints". National Council of La Raza.
14. Malkin, Michelle (July 4, 2003). "What makes an American?". Jewish World Review.
15. "Department of State Visa Bulletin". May 29, 2010.
16. Zorn, Eric (August 17, 2006). "Deportation Standoff Not helping Cause". Chicago Tribune.
17. Contreras, Raoul Lowery (August 23, 2007). "'Anchor babies' is hate speech". North County Times.
18. H.R. 1940, from http://thomas.loc.gov
19. Perriello on Immigration; Goode on 'Anchor Babies'. Danville, Va. September 3, 2008.

Further reading

• Berestein, Leslie (April 2, 2006). "Immigration bill turned quiet voices into a roar". San Diego Union-Tribune.

• History of immigration to the United States
• Pejorative terms for people
• Racism in the United States
• Illegal immigration to the United States
• Political terms