Some people from other countries have babies here, and then use those babies to try to stay in the US. In such cases, the term "anchor baby" seems appropriate, because there is an adult trying to remain the US, an adult who would otherwise not be eligible to stay here, an adult who is scamming the system. Jeb, of course, is getting carried away, trying to whip up fear that millions of undocumented people are having babies here, and will all be allowed to remain in the US.

In fact, many people from other countries have babies here and have no intention of staying. Some friends of mine have had two children here while in college, and went back home very soon after the birth of each child. Of course, the children can claim US citizenship later on, but I don't think this is what Jeb Bush is talking about. I think he's trying to convince people that foreigners are invading the US to have babies that will allow them all to stay here.

Which brings us to the second point. Having a baby here does not automatically allow you to stay here, let alone become a citizen. The number of babies used as anchors is pretty low. I'm too lazy to look it up, but this "anchor baby" hysteria is crap.

Isn't Jeb married to a woman from another country? Maybe we should crack down on all these "anchor husbands."

If an Indian or Chinese couple arranges to have their child born on US soil, then the go back home, in 18-25 years said kid can enroll at a US university without needing a student visa.

Preemptive paperwork reduction, and pretty damn clever.

And yes, Heb's wife is a Latina, orig from Mexico IIRC.

They're from China, and both got their PhDs here, so I imagine they will want the kids to attend college in the US.