An Anchor Baby Essay

733 Words2 Pages

In discussion of 2016 elections, one of the most controversial issue that has been brought up has been the use of the term “anchor babies” and the future they will be facing with authorities based on citizenship. An anchor baby refers to a child born to a noncitizen mother in a country which has birthright citizenship, especially when viewed as providing and advantage to family members or legal residency. On the one hand, Republicans argue that the term should be kept. While Democrats contend that the term is offensive and should not be used. The term anchor baby should not be used, besides being offensive to the children of hard working immigrants that contribute to Americas’ population, economy and social safety, it is against the fourteen …show more content…

(washingtonpost.com) Unfortunately, many against immigrants, see as anchor babies to be a short cut and help for undocumented parents. The help undocumented parents receive for having a U.S citizen child is countless, from access to public education to social services. This is why the idea of an anchor baby is so controversial. Once the baby turn twenty-one years they are eligible to apply for a green card or visa for their parent and eventually enter the United States legally. The process is lengthy, the child must turn twenty-one, the parent need to leave the United States. Then, one or both parents would need to provide evidence that said parents, at some point, lived in the United States illegally -- long enough for that "anchor baby" to be conceived or born(washingtonpost.com) And despite widespread belief to the contrary, there is indeed a penalty for that …show more content…

Republican presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, said on the conservative radio show, Morning in America, “Better enforcement so that you don’t have these, you know, ‘anchor babies,’ as there described, coming into the country.” (cbsnews.com) Bush’s statement quickly inspired Hillary Clinton, Democratic presidential candidate, to denounce the term, ‘anchor babies’ via twitter with a tweet that read “They’re called babies.” As well as via text to her campaign text supporters that they could hear what the GOP presidencial candidates say “about Latinos when he thinks no one is listening.” Clinton’s motive is to compare the ideas Bush has with Trumps

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