Chuckling...I was just thinking that as long as the current interpretation is that the 14th Amendment confers citizenship to the children of illegals, a 'plan' or even a law won't be able to reverse that.
Won't we need to actually address the 14th Amendment?
Question: If my cousin from Italy is here visiting me while pregnant, and she gives birth during her stay, does her child gain automatic American citizenship? Logic (but not the law, because I have not researched it) tells me that there is no automatic citizenship. In other words, the parent is merely a temporary guest or visitor, and the accident of the birth should not confer citizenship on the child.
Using that logic (not that the law is always logical), the child of a guest worker or temporary worker should also be denied automatic citizenship.
I firmly believe that this "baby anchor," as you phrased it, is one of the most serious problems affecting solving this issue. There is little enthusiasm for deporting the parent of a young citizen because it necessitates the deporting of the citizen as well (who cannot support himself without the parent or the state).
The rules for gaining naturalization should apply to all those who wish to come to America. I am offended by the thought of allowing those who have failed to follow the legal procedures (and the long wait) to gain entry by trickery or loopholes and to "cut in line" ahead of those who have followed the rules.