Anchor baby

Anchor baby is a term—regarded by some as a pejorative—referring to a child born to non-citizen parents in a country that has birthright citizenship, which will therefore help the parents and other family members gain citizenship or legal residency and/or avoid deportation in said country. In the U.S., the term is generally used as a derogatory reference to the supposed role of the child, who automatically qualifies as an American citizen under jus soli and the rights guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The term is also often used in the context of the debate over illegal immigration to the United States. A similar term, "passport baby", has been used in Canada for children born through so-called "maternity" or "birth tourism".