Anchor babies, Anchors away?
By Dr. Harold A. Black
blackh@knoxfocus.com
haroldblackphd.com
How do you feel about birthright citizenship? That’s when any child born on U.S. soil or in its territories except American Samoa is automatically a citizen. Why American Samoa is excluded is beyond me. The children are called “anchor babies.” Trump has made it a big deal. Is it? Well, Trump signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship claiming he had the authority to do so even though the practice stems from the 14th Amendment. He was promptly sued by 22 Democrat AGs. Apparently, the Democrats favor the amendment and having thousands of newborns from illegal mothers in the country. Why? I haven’t a clue. I thought they wanted unlimited abortions. I guess it’s ok for illegals to carry babies to term.
The case was expedited and heard by a federal judge appointed by Reagan who promptly declared Trump’s order to be blatantly unconstitutional. The judge was obviously unhappy that the case was even on the docket. He told Trump’s attorney “I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order. It boggles my mind.” It is clear that the judge did not look kindly upon Trump’s executive order.
The issue revolves around the language of the amendment which reads:
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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The phrase “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is what motivates those who want to deny birthright citizenship. I am not an attorney – thank goodness – but it seems to me that the issue is whether the mother is in the country legally although some want birthright ended for all children born to noncitizens. If this were the case then children born to noncitizen legal residents would be included. Nikki Haley is an anchor baby, born in the United States to noncitizen immigrant parents from India. Should she have been denied citizenship? Famous anchor babies include Walt Disney and Colin Powell. Should they have been denied citizenship too?
Also the term “birth tourism” is used for those mothers who legally travel to the United States to give birth. For instance, an estimated 50,000 Chinese women come to the U.S. every year to give birth. There are Chinese travel agencies that specialize in arranging every detail for the parents. There are also agencies that cater to Russians as well. Most of the parents do not plan to apply for citizenship themselves but want to provide options available to their children.
Trump contends that the United States is the only country to grant birthright citizenship. Actually, 33 countries do so. However the United States and Canada are the only developed countries that grant it.
How many children are we talking about? Twenty-five percent of all births are to aliens. However, these data include mothers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The data also include mothers in the country legally who are not citizens. Excluding those mothers, the estimates are that births to illegal aliens are around 7% of total births or around 300,000 a year. The birth of the child only conveys citizenship to the child and not to its parents. The number of birthright children currently residing in the United States is around 13 million. Seriously, do these children somehow pose a threat to the security of the country? Do they grow up to be criminals or exemplary citizens or something in between like most of us?
The U.S. birthrate is falling with only 3.6 million babies born in 2023. I presume this number includes the 300,000 or so birthright babies. Those babies born to tourists will leave the country with their mothers. The ones born to illegal immigrants will remain. If the parents are to be deported, it is rare for the deportation to be canceled due to an anchor baby. Questions arise as to whether illegal immigration and anchor babies will have a net benefit to the country given the falling birthrate.
So as Stevie Wonder says, “So What the Fuss?”
