Comment

Lindsey Graham: Illegals Come Here to 'Drop a Child'

5
ShaunP7/29/2010 10:57:00 am PDT

Only problem with that idea? Having an “anchor baby” doesn’t do squat for the status of the parents:

en.wikipedia.org

The term “anchor baby” assumes that having a US citizen child confers immigration benefits on the parents and extended family. This is generally a false assumption, as immigration law does not allow a US citizen child to sponsor his parents until he or she turns 21. Once the child turns 18, immigration law also allows a US citizen child to sponsor his own siblings with a 15 to 23 year quota delay. Immigration law does not provide categories for any other relatives that would apply in this situation. In addition, if the parents are illegal immigrants, they are usually barred from immigration despite having a sponsor.[1][13]

In the public debate surrounding “anchor babies”, it is also frequently assumed that an “anchor baby” would be beneficial in deportation proceedings. Such benefits do not exist except in the very rare case of extreme and profound hardship on the child. Approximately 88,000 legal immigrant parents of US citizen children have been deported in the past ten years for what it described as “minor criminal convictions” now classified as aggravated felonies, including nonviolent drug offenses, simple assaults and drunk driving.[14] Federal appellate courts and the Supreme Court have upheld the refusal by the Immigration and Naturalization Service or Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stay the deportation of illegal immigrants merely on the grounds that they have U.S.-citizen, minor children.[15]