Anchor baby, a child born in the U.S. to a foreign national mother or the father who is an illegal immigrant to the United States. Current U.S. federal law prevents anyone under the age of 21 from being able to petition for their non-citizen parent to be lawfully admitted into the United States for permanent residence.

But here is the problem, let’s say the mother is a US citizen and the Mexican father is illegal, but they have children and a job. If the father is deported to Mexico and he was the one who was supporting the family, the wife and family will suffer hardship.  If the wife isn’t able to pay the bills she will have go on public assistance.  So to overcome this she signs up for a hardship wavier for the husband to come back. The wife files with Citizenship and Immigration Services for a waiver of inadmissibility.

The U.S. waiver petition costs over $1,000. If the waiver is approved then her husband has to go to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in order to follow Immigration procedure to return to the U.S.Then he needs an immigration medical exam from one of the only THREE doctors authorized to perform these exams in Juarez. The fee for the doctor is around $185 U.S. dollars. (How long do you think that takes?).

In the mean time American tax payers are supporting the family through welfare. Now let’s look at what happens if both parents are illegal and they have two children. If they are deported to Mexico and chose to leave the children here the State will place the children in a foster home or with relatives and we the taxpayer will still pay for their upkeep. Now the only way we can send the children back to Mexico with the parents would be to change the law if possible. Until then the only other solution would be to let the illegal immigrants stay here if they are supporting themselves and let them apply for legal residence. So when politicians say they are going to change the system, the money will still be coming out of the tax payer’s pocket

Joseph B.D. Saraceno