Some 124,000 “anchor babies” — children born to illegal aliens in this country – were delivered in the first five months of this year, according to new data.
The latest numbers continue a longstanding pattern of high birthrates – and subsidized hospital costs — by illegal aliens.
In 2014, birthright babies outnumbered the total number of births in 16 states, combined. Taxpayer costs for those births was estimated at $2.4 billion.
Though anchor-baby births dipped to 250,000 in 2016, the latest statistics indicate that the pace is picking back up. As of 2017, an estimated 4.5 million anchor children under age 18 were living in the U.S.
The U.S. and Canada are the only developed nations that still grant birthright citizenship to illegal aliens. President Donald Trump has repeatedly denounced the policy, and the U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on the constitutionality of birthright citizenship for the offspring of illegal aliens. Still, the policy persists.
In addition to providing yet another incentive for illegal immigration, America’s birthright citizenship policy has given rise to multimillion-dollar “birth tourism” schemes that entice pregnant women from overseas to have their babies in the States.
“The businesses coach their clients to deceive immigration officials and pay indigent rates at hospitals to deliver their babies, even though many of the clients were wealthy,” The New York Times reported earlier this year.
Ken Cuccinelli, the former Virginia attorney general who took over this week as acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), has advocated setting restrictions on birthright citizenship.