Truth and Misconceptions Regarding Anchor Babies
As immigration reform has received renewed attention, there is a growing debate regarding anchor babies. Anchor baby is a term describing children that are born in the U.S. to illegal aliens. Anchor baby implies that illegal aliens can “anchor” themselves in the US.
A baby born in the US is automatically conferred U.S. citizenship under the 14th amendment. This amendment, ratified in 1868, was designed to prevent any State from denying citizenship to any freed slaves, or their children. In order to eliminate this benefit, there would likely need to be a constitutional amendment which is a difficult process.
