Among the new entries in the recently released fifth edition of the New American Heritage Dictionary is the term "anchor baby."
Their definition reads:
"anchor baby n. A child born to a noncitizen mother in a country that grants automatic citizenship to children born on its soil, especially such a child born to parents seeking to secure eventual citizenship for themselves and often other members of their family."
Among the critics of the dictionary's definition is Mary Giovagnoli, Director of the Immigration Policy Center. Writing for immigrationimpact.com, Ms. Giovagnoli says the definition of the term is "disturbing," and that although the use of the term has "skyrocketed," the usage appears to be driven by anti-immigrant sentiment.
Indeed, anti-immigrant sentiment seems to have become ubiquitous in some political circles and in certain media.
"In an era where politicians and pundits have no qualms about being imprecise, dictionary editors need to be—even if that means calling a term 'highly charged,' 'political,' or 'down right nasty,'" writes Ms. Giovagnoli.
On December 3, Ms. Giovagnoli published an update, "American Heritage Dictionary Responds to 'Anchor Baby' Definition Criticism" in which she said that the executive editor of the New American Heritage Dictionary has agreed to revise their definition to reflect the derogatory nature of the term.
The dictionary's revisions notwithstanding, U.S. immigration law requires the sponsor of an immigrant (in this case the child would be the sponsor of the parent) to be a U.S. citizen 21 years of age or older. Put another way, the undocumented parent of a U.S. citizen baby must wait 21 years for their child to reach the age at which the child can sponsor their parent for permanent resident status (a green card).
A number of other factors may also play into the differential. For example, was the undocumented parent legally admitted to the U.S. or did they enter the U.S. without inspection? And once the parent is approved for a green card, they must wait another 5 years before being eligible to naturalize, i.e. achieve U.S. citizenship.
Hence, in addition to being pejorative, the term "anchor baby" as defined by the New American Heritage Dictionary is misleading at best, and in reality, false.
They are a reality. California is a perfect example of the anchor baby phenomenon.
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