"Anchor babies” are a myth. Here are the real reasons women like me give birth in the US.

[LiberalArkie]

The author's son in his tie onesie. (Kateryna Panova)

On the day my son Eden was born, the only thing I was anxious about was the paperwork. I'm from Ukraine and my husband is from Israel, and even though we both knew that the United States has birthright citizenship, I still wondered if my son would indeed get a birth certificate and become an American.

I made sure I met the hospital birth registrar well in advance, on a tour of the hospital. I bought her candy according to my country's tradition of thanking — or, more accurately, bribing — the right people. I felt like I needed to pull strings to get my son his passport. I even bought a onesie with a black tie so that Eden would look all formal in his photo shoot for the American passport.

It was a big day when my son's passport finally arrived in mail. My husband and I stared at its blue cover, and then turned every page carefully and respectfully. I showed it to all of our relatives on Skype, and they admired it. Ever since, they call Eden "the American" and seldom by his name. I still find it especially mind-blowing that the passport says the secretary of state requests to give my son "all lawful aid and protection." I'm happy for such a generosity. But I can't stop thinking that my son and I didn't do anything to deserve this privilege.

I didn't set out to have an American baby. I came to the United States three years ago on an exchange visitor visa to study at New York University. One summer I had an internship in Miami, where I met a cute guy on OKCupid. A couple of weeks later, I accidentally got pregnant. Several months after, I went into labor at Memorial West Hospital in Florida and gave birth to "the American." (I also married the guy afterward.)

Snip

http://www.vox.com/2016/3/28/11284116/birth-tourism

[forest444]

1. Great article. For Republicans the problem isn't the anchor, it's the color.

Many Europeans, as the article points out, have babies in the U.S. without actually being U.S. residents for all kinds of reasons.

You'd be hard-pressed to find even one right-winger in this country that has a problem with that.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

2. Anchor babies aren't a myth

Not the wealthy women coming from China, anyway.

As for as most coming from south of the border, they come to work for a better life. Those that fly here first class to give birth in California or New York are just a small number, though. But, hey, that's what wealth gets ya'. Right?

For more on birth tourism, read

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/01/china-us-birth-tourism_n_7187180.html

[saturnsring]

4. yea it's an industry in china - this woman thinks she speaks for everyone

[2naSalit]

7. Hmmm

I don't want to claim this story is a fluff piece but I do want to say...

I live in a very low population community that is primarily tourism based and a lot of J1s (guest workers) come for the summer from Eastern Europe and Russia etc... For a town of <2K we seem to have at least one of these J1s accidentally get pregnant and end up staying and getting married for a time, some naturalize eventually.

Just sayin' if this story in the OP is honest, it's unusual.

[snooper2]

3. accidentally got pregnant and her term was just several months LOL

[saturnsring]

5. A couple of weeks later, I accidentally got pregnant. Several months after, I went into labor at Mem

A couple of weeks later, I accidentally got pregnant. Several months after, I went into labor at Memorial West Hospital in Florida and gave birth to "the American."

[Iggo]

6. Anchor babies? Oh! You mean American citizens! (n/t)

[hfojvt]

8. I still think it is ridiculous to make such children citizens

That kid is less of an American than I am Swiss, and according to my Swiss cousin, I could not emigrate to Switzerland.

[Mariana]

12. I agree, but the Constitution is very clear on this point.

Amendment XIV, Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

[hfojvt]

13. I support a new amendment to cancel that part

also, I am not sure if that was the intention as I thought that amendment was written to grant citizenship to former slaves, and not to tourist babies.

But in 1865 with a population of 50,000,000 perhaps it seemed like we would always have room to spare.

[Mariana]

14. Whatever the intention may or may not have been

the clear language of the Amendment does not exclude the children of aliens. We have to follow what the Constitution actually says.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

9. The trailblazers were the South Vietnamese, Taiwanese and South Africans in the 1960's

Parents who feared their countries as they knew them would cease to exist and wanted to give their children an irrevocable ticket out.

[AngryAmish]

10. Accidentally got pregnant

[Major Nikon]

11. The issue is far more complicated than one anecdote

When I lived in El Paso, my taxes got raised because somewhere around 80% of all births in the county hospital were from Mexican women. The biggest reason wasn't because they wanted to "anchor" them in the US, but rather that the Mexican government would be much more likely to pursue them for the medical expenses if they had the babies in a Mexican hospital.