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The Republican Party’s two presidential hopefuls are using “anchor babies” as an issue to win them future votes.
“Anchor babies” refer to babies born in the United States to non-Americans in a deliberate attempt to have the infants acquire American citizenship. It’s right up there with “TNT” — the reference to Pinoys who stay in a foreign country illegally. The term, “tago nang tago,” is roughly translated to “constantly hiding.”
Republican White House hopeful Jeb Bush has accused Asians of abusing rules allowing infants born in the United States to be American citizens, while Donald Trump has called for possibly scrapping the law, saying birthright citizenship boosts illegal immigration.
Migrants’ rights activists see the term as a slur used by anti-immigration campaigners to describe the babies of those who sneak across the border to give birth, gifting their offspring US citizenship and enhancing the parents’ legal status.
On Aug 24, during a visit to Texas near the US border with Mexico, when responding to a question about whether the “anchor baby” row would hurt his ability to win the Hispanic vote, Bush said the situation has more to do with other immigrants.
“What I was talking about was the specific case of fraud being committed where there’s organized efforts — and frankly it’s more related to Asian people coming into our country, having children in that organized effort, taking advantage of a noble concept with birthright citizenship,” Bush said.
“My background, my life, the fact that I’m immersed in the immigrant experience — this is ludicrous for the Clinton campaign and others to suggest that somehow I’m using a derogatory term. I support the 14th Amendment,” he said of the constitutional guarantee of citizenship to anyone born in the country.
Last March, US investigators raided dozens of Los Angeles locations suspected of offering “maternity tourism” services for pregnant Chinese women wanting to gain US citizenship for their children. Some mothers were paying over USD$50,000 for packages designed to allow them to give birth in the United States, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said.
Last week Bush sparked criticism when he told a conservative radio show that the United States needs “better enforcement so that you don’t have these, you know, ‘anchor babies,’ as they’re described, coming into the country.”
“They’re called babies,” Clinton said on Twitter.
With reports from AFP.
