Meaning of anchor baby | Babel Free

Definitions

A child born to a non-citizen mother in the United States or another country that grants birthright citizenship (cf. jus soli), and who, as a citizen, can help their parents and other family members gain citizenship or permanent residency.

US, derogatory, often

Equivalents

Examples

“In the US each year, hundreds of thousands of anchor babies are born to illegal-alien mothers.”

“I suppose you're going to tell me all about the stupidity of the gringos. By the way, you're one of them, anchor baby. Once your folks swam the river and had you over here, you started getting all the freebies, right?”

“[…] scenes of an ambulance let through the Tijuana-San Diego border and a pregnant senorita emerging to give birth to her anchor baby.”

“[…] anchor babies remains a divisive issue surrounding illegal immigration in the United States.”

“When Donald Trump launched his campaign for the 2016 presidential election, his signature policy agenda around immigration often leaned into the “anchor baby” fallacy. Part of his platform included ending birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, and Trump called for deporting such families.”

CEFR level