Anchor Babies
I have not heard of the term “anchor babies” until I read an article today from Time Magazine “Arizona's Next Immigration Target: Children of Illegals”. I am not even aware that SB1070 was signed on April 23, 2010. How ignorant I am! Senate Russell Pearce, an Arizona Republican introduced SB1070 which allows Arizona’s law enforcement officers to detain an individual under reasonable suspicion if this individual seems and “sounds” illegal in the United States. The law enforcement officers in Arizona can further arrest this individual if he is unable to prove his legal status in the United States. In addition, it is a misdemeanor in the state of Arizona for foreigners and immigrants not to carry passports or immigration papers at all times. Before this bill went into effect, law enforcement officers in Arizona could only check a person’s immigration status when that person was a suspected criminal. The purpose of this bill is to crack down on crimes associated with illegal immigration and to protect the nation from terrorists through identifying, prosecuting and deporting illegal immigrants to tighten border security.
So what does this mean when you visit Phoenix in the future? If you speak really poor English and if you don’t look like an American, you had better bring along with you all necessary legal documents at all times. How do I feel about that? I really don’t know. I do have a US passport. I guess that I will have to start bringing my passport when we travel to Phoenix next time. If you don’t have a US passport, you had better bring your birth certificate with you at all times to prove that you are a US citizen when traveling to Phoenix. Or maybe you should forget about visiting Phoenix altogether in the future.
Why did I bring up SB1070? Buttressed by public’s approbation, Arizona Republicans are contemplating introducing another bill, another brainchild of Arizona Senator Russell. Unlike SB1070 which asks for birth certificate or other legal document to prove your legal status, this bill will deny birth certificates to children born in Arizona to illegal parents. Some argue that this bill violates the 14th Amendment. Contrary to how I feel about the previous bill, I do agree with passing this bill. There are so many people taking advantage of the loophole of the 14th Amendment. You have probably heard a lot that people who are neither US citizens nor permanent residents such as foreign students, temporary foreign workers, and international travelers came to the United States for the sole purpose of giving birth to American citizens, so that their babies would eventually become anchors to hinder deportation of their parents who entered or stayed in the US illegally, or to sponsor the entire families to the United States to enjoy social welfare without previously paying any tax. This loophole has been a great incentive for illegal immigration and the flourish of organized maternity tourism.
What do anchor babies mean to us? Higher taxes when citizenship is used as a license for welfare. Higher medical cost derived from unpaid medical bills and the abuse of medical care by uninsured illegal aliens and nonimmigrants. Imagine the cost of an anchor baby delivery, the cost of an uninsured mom, the subsidy from government funded by the taxes we paid to the illegal immigrant or the non-immigrant family to raise an anchor baby and the cost of public education to raise an anchor baby. What a free ride! I can’t remember where I read this. It stated that approximately one in 10 elementary and secondary school students nationwide is an anchor baby. Think about the rise in high-poverty schools. Maybe the figure isn’t precise but we all know that the United States is overwhelmingly populated with anchor babies from Asia and Latin America.
I wonder how many countries still observe automatic jus soli. To my knowledge, there is not a single European country. Many have repealed granting birthright citizenship for similar abuse that plagues the US nowadays.
We all know why the 14th amendment exists. To free the slaves, not to encourage illegal immigration. Stop the loophole of the 14th amendment and follow other nations to abandon this antiquated practice of granting birthright citizenship to anchor babies. Let’s encourage illegal immigrants and non-immigrants to pull up their anchors.
Written by Elisa English
On 6/15/2010 in Minneapolis
** 版權所有 – Elisa English
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