Made In China, Born In The U.S.A.

[MA-Caver]

Wait, let me get this straight... they're going through this elaborate, expensive (and risky) scheme just so they can become U.S. citizens in 21 years? It's kinda flattering that they want to be Americans? But <shakes head> the idea is a little over the top don't you think?

When Liu Li boarded a plane for the United States, she had a little bit of makeup on, was wearing a loose dress, and had her hair up. She tried to hold her handbag in front of her belly in a natural way, just as the middleman had taught her. She was trying to look as calm as any wealthy Chinese lady would look when traveling abroad. But Liu Li couldn't help feeling terribly nervous: she was six months pregnant when she left for the United States, where she wanted to give birth to an American citizen.
Giving birth to a child abroad is not a privilege reserved to the stars and the very wealthy. An increasing number of expectant middle-class parents also fancy giving their children passports that they can feel proud of. "The return on investment is higher than robbing a bank," the consultancy agent tells women such as Liu. When Chinese children are born in America, they automatically become U.S. citizens. Once they reach 21, their parents will be able to apply for green cards and emigrate.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110614/wl_time/08599207769300

Leaving one country that is sitting pretty in the black (financially) to move to another country that is sitting deep in the red. I thought Chinese were smarter than that!

According to the 14th Amendment to the U.S. constitution (ratified in 1868), anyone born in United States automatically becomes an American citizen and obtains access to public education, university loans, voting, and so on... Even so, if one does not work in America or pay taxes after the age of 15, one can only enjoy very limited access to U.S. welfare benefits. "The system doesn't totally exclude people who don't pay taxes here, but those who do not pay as much tax as Americans do cannot expect the same benefits. But each state has different regulations," says Mr. Yang, a Chinese born man who works in New Jersey and has a green card.

Tell ya what? Those who have children born in the country and then moved back to the parents home country to wait out the years til they can legally immigrate to this country should start paying pre-taxes now. At least they're paid up when they move here.

 

[granfire]

Wait, let me get this straight... they're going through this elaborate, expensive (and risky) scheme just so they can become U.S. citizens in 21 years? It's kinda flattering that they want to be Americans? But <shakes head> the idea is a little over the top don't you think?


Leaving one country that is sitting pretty in the black (financially) to move to another country that is sitting deep in the red. I thought Chinese were smarter than that!

Tell ya what? Those who have children born in the country and then moved back to the parents home country to wait out the years til they can legally immigrate to this country should start paying pre-taxes now. At least they're paid up when they move here.

well, China is a different story. It might be well off economically, but there is more to life than money...like clean air and the freedom to say what's on your mind. Or not being executed because somebody needs a kidney....(I suppose those are unsubstantiated rumors though)

 

[Touch Of Death]

Imagine the money people could make selling their identity to bad guys that look similar to them selves. That's thinking ahead.
Sean

 

[Big Don]

Those kids are called Anchor babies, and those who hate the idea of actually enforcing the laws about illegal immigration claim they don't exist.

 

[Big Don]

Wait, let me get this straight... they're going through this elaborate, expensive (and risky) scheme just so they can become U.S. citizens in 21 years?

If the child is born here, he is automatically an American citizen, the government will not deport the parents, why would they wait 21 years?

 

[RandomPhantom700]

Leaving one country that is sitting pretty in the black (financially) to move to another country that is sitting deep in the red. I thought Chinese were smarter than that!

Tell ya what? Those who have children born in the country and then moved back to the parents home country to wait out the years til they can legally immigrate to this country should start paying pre-taxes now. At least they're paid up when they move here.

Pretty sure there's more reasons to want to gain access to U.S. citizenship than just financial. Besides, we're talking 21 years down the road. How quickly did this financial meltdown happen?

As for the pre-tax thing, what happens when their green card application gets denied 21 years later? Do we pay them back the deposit with interest? o_0!

 

[RandomPhantom700]

If the child is born here, he is automatically an American citizen, the government will not deport the parents, why would they wait 21 years?

This was discussed a while back during the "anchor baby" debate. The child's automatically a citizen, its parents are not. Whether they get deported is up to the INS, if I remember correctly.

I don't know if you just forgot this point or are ignoring it. But there you go.

 

[Big Don]

This was discussed a while back during the "anchor baby" debate. The child's automatically a citizen, its parents are not. Whether they get deported is up to the INS, if I remember correctly.

I don't know if you just forgot this point or are ignoring it. But there you go.

They don't get deported, the laws aren't seriously enforced. Did you forget or are you ignoring that?

 

[Empty Hands]

They don't get deported, the laws aren't seriously enforced. Did you forget or are you ignoring that?

You know, I remember in that very thread stories posted about parents of American citizen children being deported. It clearly happens. Have any actual data about the percentages or is this yet another thing you "just know"?

 

[RandomPhantom700]

They don't get deported, the laws aren't seriously enforced. Did you forget or are you ignoring that?

Even if true (which I don't know and you don't either), that still doesn't make them a citizen based on their child being born here. As I recall from the anchor baby back-and-forth, Bill Mattocks showed they still dont get SS numbers, tax returns, rights to vote, any of that stuff. So again, still have to wait 21 years to be eligible. Erego, not citizens.

 

[Empty Hands]

Leaving one country that is sitting pretty in the black (financially) to move to another country that is sitting deep in the red. I thought Chinese were smarter than that!

The lack of government debt says essentially nothing about the prosperity of the citizens. The standard of living in China is much lower than it is here. The rich/poor divide is even more lopsided than it is here. There are a small percentage of Chinese living in the booming cities that are doing very well. Most everyone else in the cities are better than they were, but still far below the standards of any first world country. Outside the cities, particularly in the rural west, it might as well be the Middle Ages.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

If the child is born here, he is automatically an American citizen, the government will not deport the parents, why would they wait 21 years?

Incorrect.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m.../illegal-immigrants-anchor-babies-birthright/

It's important to note that having an "anchor baby" won't do much to help a Mexican mom become a U.S. citizen. Because citizen children cannot sponsor their parents for citizenship until they turn 21 -- and because if the parents were ever illegal, they would have to return home for 10 years before applying to come in -- having a baby to secure citizenship for its parents is an extremely long-term, and uncertain, process.

http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_09-15_Jan09.pdf

The United States conducted 2,199,138 alien removals between FYs 1998 and 2007. Existing data indicate that these removals involved 108,434 alien parents of U.S. citizen children. Alien parents were removed because of immigration violations, such as being present without authorization or committing criminal violations that affect immigration status.

Cite your facts or retract.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Even if true (which I don't know and you don't either), that still doesn't make them a citizen based on their child being born here. As I recall from the anchor baby back-and-forth, Bill Mattocks showed they still dont get SS numbers, tax returns, rights to vote, any of that stuff. So again, still have to wait 21 years to be eligible. Erego, not citizens.

Correct. They get none of those things AND they get deported. Having a child who is a citizen is no bar to illegal aliens being deported. In fact, the ICE makes it very clear that they give NO consideration to deportations based on the citizenship of the children of illegal aliens. The family has to decide if they want their US citizen children to be deported with them voluntarily, to leave them with legal family members inside the USA, or to give them up to state custody. But they get deported whether or not they have US citizen children.

http://www.factcheck.org/2010/05/a-mythical-florida-mom-and-other-false-claims-about-immigrants/

Florida DCF: Under federal and state law, only “qualified immigrants” are eligible for these benefits. Qualified immigrants must provide documentation of certain legal statuses, so individuals without legal status are not eligible.

 

[MA-Caver]

The lack of government debt says essentially nothing about the prosperity of the citizens. The standard of living in China is much lower than it is here. The rich/poor divide is even more lopsided than it is here. There are a small percentage of Chinese living in the booming cities that are doing very well. Most everyone else in the cities are better than they were, but still far below the standards of any first world country. Outside the cities, particularly in the rural west, it might as well be the Middle Ages.

Well yeah there IS that... after all they shoot revolutionaries there anyway http://articles.latimes.com/1989-06-04/news/mn-2494_1_men-square-troops-fire-beijing-crowds.

But yeah waiting 21 years... that shows patience I guess. Even if the parents don't survive then at least their child has a guaranteed spot here.

Am wondering though... how many more months until Dec 21, 2012?? :lol2:

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Those kids are called Anchor babies, and those who hate the idea of actually enforcing the laws about illegal immigration claim they don't exist.

That's an exaggeration and incorrect. Those who hate the idea of US citizens losing their civil liberties in order to catch more illegal aliens claim that the 'anchor baby' issue is blown way out of proportion.

Do illegal aliens give birth to US citizen children while in the US? Most who have children do.

Do they do it so that they can stay in the USA (the 'anchor' in the term 'Anchor Baby')? Well, they can't stay if they're caught, so in that sense, no, 'Anchor Babies' do not exist.

If they do it so that their children will be US citizens for some other benefit they believe US citizenship will convey, that's entirely possible. But that is not an 'anchor' by the pure definition of the term.

The term was originated with reference to an argument that illegal aliens come here to the USA to "drop and leave," meaning they have a child and immediately return to Mexico with that child, with the idea that they can then apply for legal entry to the USA because their child is a citizen. The answer to that wild rumor is no, it does not happen.

So, no 'Anchor Babies'. Do illegal aliens have children in the USA? Yes. Are those children automatically US citizens? Yes. Does it allow the parents to stay in the USA? No. As an 'anchor', those babies aren't very helpful.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Well yeah there IS that... after all they shoot revolutionaries there anyway http://articles.latimes.com/1989-06-04/news/mn-2494_1_men-square-troops-fire-beijing-crowds.

But yeah waiting 21 years... that shows patience I guess. Even if the parents don't survive then at least their child has a guaranteed spot here.

Am wondering though... how many more months until Dec 21, 2012?? :lol2:

I believe that China still has an official 'one child' policy, and that may have something to do with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_tourism

This practice is believed to be popular among women in Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.[2] According to Edward Chang, a scholar of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Riverside, the practice is popular among the elite of South Korea, since sons of these women can avoid compulsory military service. Temporary homes for these mothers are often located in residential neighborhoods, which neighbors allege decrease the quality of life in the neighborhood, primarily due to increases in traffic and other business-like effects. "It's easy. If you register the birth, it's automatic that your baby can get an American passport," said Kim Jeong Yeon, a Korean woman who traveled to the United States on a tourist visa while six months pregnant.[3]Like many other women, Kim spent thousands of dollars to have a company arrange the travel. "If they could afford it, all my friends would go to the United States to have their babies," she said.[4]

It's an interesting topic, but I believe it can be separated from the persistent rumors that illegal aliens are sneaking into the USA in order to have children who are US citizens. In this case, we're talking about very few numbers of people who are coming here legally in order to have their children, with the belief that citizenship will be advantageous for the child. It would appear to be legal. I don't know if I see it as a major problem, not least of which because these are the children of parents who can afford to do this - not your typical person without employment. One would imagine that these new citizens would join the US workforce and pay taxes. I don't see a lot wrong with that, especially as our population is dropping and we frankly need the money.