Anchor Babies Benefit Hugely from Welfare

The United States-born children of illegal aliens and temporary visa-holders, commonly referred to as “anchor babies,” are benefiting hugely from American taxpayer-funded welfare, the New York Times admits.

In a piece detailing President Donald Trump’s goals to preserve the nation’s social safety net for American citizens, the Times admits that anchor babies — who are rewarded birthright American citizenship even as their parents have no legitimate ties to the United States — are major welfare beneficiaries whose parents will be impacted by such policy changes.

“Immigration experts and advocates for immigrant rights say the changes would instead largely be felt by children who are U.S. citizens but whose parents are undocumented or immigrants who are authorized to live in the United States, such as refugees and people granted asylum,” the Times reports:

Twelve percent of American children, or about nine million people, are citizens with at least one noncitizen parent. Children with at least one immigrant parent are twice as likely to live in poverty than those with native-born parents, according to a 2022 report by researchers at the Boston University School of Social Work.

…

Some of the most substantial changes would come with the tax bill, a centerpiece of Mr. Trump’s economic agenda that House Republicans narrowly passed on Thursday. If approved by the Senate, the package would boost the child tax credit to as much as $2,500, but limit its availability to parents with Social Security numbers. [Emphasis added]

One of Trump’s first executive orders authorized federal agencies to examine all routes through which illegal aliens could be accessing welfare programs and ensure that such routes are eliminated so that the social safety net is protected for Americans.

Research from 2023 conducted by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) underscored how the illegal alien parents of anchor babies collect millions in welfare solely because their child or children were given birthright citizenship.

“The high use of welfare by illegal immigrant-headed households may seem implausible,” CIS researchers stated in their findings. “However, there are several things to consider: First, more than half of all illegal immigrant households have one or more U.S.-born children.”