Anchor babies and the challenge of birthright citizenship

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Title:

Anchor babies and the challenge of birthright citizenship

Author:

Chavez, Leo R. (Leo Ralph), author.

ISBN:

9781503605091

Personal Author:

Chavez, Leo R. (Leo Ralph), author.

Physical Description:

112 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

General Note:

Source of cataloging data: WCP

Abstract:

"Birthright citizenship has a deep and contentious history in the United States, one often hard to square in a country that prides itself on being 'a nation of immigrants.' Even as the question of citizenship for children of immigrants was seemingly settled by the Fourteenth Amendment, vitriolic debate has continued for well over a century, especially in relation to U.S. race relations. Most recently, a provocative and decidedly more offensive term than birthright citizenship has emerged: 'anchor babies.' [This book] explores the question of birthright citizenship, and of citizenship in the United States writ broadly, as [the author] counters the often hyperbolic claims surrounding these so-called anchor babies. [The author] considers how the term is used as a political dog whistle, how changes in the legal definition of citizenship have affected the children of immigrants over time, and, ultimately, how U.S.-born citizens still experience trauma if they live in families with undocumented immigrants. By examining this pejorative term in its political, historical, and social contexts, [the author] calls upon us to exorcise it from public discourse and work toward building a more inclusive nation."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Prologue -- Undeserving citizens? -- A history of birthright citizenship -- Diminished citizenship -- Epilogue.

Subject Term:

Citizenship -- United States.

Children of illegal aliens -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States.

Children of immigrants -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Sugar Grove - Todd Library	Book	JK1759 .C53 2017	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

Birthright citizenship has a deep and contentious history in the United States, one often hard to square in a country that prides itself on being "a nation of immigrants." Even as the question of citizenship for children of immigrants was seemingly settled by the Fourteenth Amendment, vitriolic debate has continued for well over a century, especially in relation to U.S. race relations. Most recently, a provocative and decidedly more offensive term than birthright citizenship has emerged: "anchor babies."

With this book, Leo R. Chavez explores the question of birthright citizenship, and of citizenship in the United States writ broadly, as he counters the often hyperbolic claims surrounding these so-called anchor babies. Chavez considers how the term is used as a political dog whistle, how changes in the legal definition of citizenship have affected the children of immigrants over time, and, ultimately, how U.S.-born citizens still experience trauma if they live in families with undocumented immigrants. By examining this pejorative term in its political, historical, and social contexts, Chavez calls upon us to exorcise it from public discourse and work toward building a more inclusive nation.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

The history of immigration to the US is a long and complicated story in which changing laws and their implementation largely reflect national racial attitudes. Chavez (UC Irvine) offers a compelling account of shifting US immigration policies through the lens of birthright citizenship. This slim volume, part of the "Stanford Briefs" series, reviews how citizenship based on birth has remained a constitutional right but has been threatened and modified in effect by race-based politics. An antipathy toward immigration, seemingly running counter to the historical significance of immigrants to the national economy, has led to multiple legislative and judicial efforts to limit birthright citizenship and thus remove an incentive for migration to the US. Consequently birthright citizenship has become suspect and "undeserving." The impact has been especially severe for "mixed families," in which young citizens living with undocumented parents and siblings experience the same fears of deportation and limitations on their access to social goods and resources as undocumented family members. This book will be useful to advanced undergraduates and graduate students in social science courses as a way to explore both birthright citizenship and US immigration policy. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Marietta Morrissey, University of Toledo