Should the “Anchor Baby” Policy Be No More?
Did you know that approximately 10% of babies born in the U.S. are born to illegal immigrants each year?
As being reported in an article in Breitbart News, Center for Immigration Studies legal policy analyst Jon Feere testified before a House panel Wednesday informing them of the 10% figure.
So this begs the question: is birthright citizenship still the right policy for America?
He informed the House panel that “regardless of the foreign allegiance and/or illegal status of the parents, their children, if born on U.S. soil, are automatically afforded the benefits of U.S. citizenship, including a Social Security Number and U.S. passports. He also told them the benefit also applies to those born to mere tourists and other people with temporary status in the U.S.”
He is quoted as saying “It is unlikely that Congress intended such a broad application of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, and the Supreme Court has only held that children born to citizens or permanently domiciled immigrants must be considered U.S. citizens at birth. Some clarity from Congress would be helpful in resolving this ongoing debate.”
Did you also know of this growing trend of birth tourism?
What is birth tourism?
Birth tourism is where pregnant foreigners come to the U.S. simply to have a child with a U.S. passport.
Mr. Feere also testified that the many countries that once had birth-right policies have decided to shift away from those policies.
According to the article Mr. Freere told the panel that the United States and Canada are the only two advanced economies who grant automatic citizenship to children of illegal aliens.
Is it time for the U.S. to move away from the birthright policy?
Do you believe that any baby born in the U.S. should automatically be considered a U.S. citizen?
What are your thoughts?
Let’s discuss this tomorrow (Thursday) on my show The Live with Renk show, which airs Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to noon, to let me know your thoughts at (269) 441-9595.
Or please feel free to start a discussion and write your thoughts in the comment section.