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A child born in the U.S. to illegal aliens (called an “anchor baby” because, once the child is 18, he or she can bring his parents into the U.S. legally) is indeed a U.S. citizen at birth under current law. The fact that an “anchor baby” can be raised outside the U.S. and still be eligible for the presidency if he returns to America as an adult (so long as he has been a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years) is but one ridiculous result of the current law that provides birthright citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. even if their parents are illegal aliens. Congress should amend the law so that only the children of citizens or legal permanent residents (not the children of persons with student visas or tourist visas or of those illegally in the country) are U.S. citizens at birth.

Of course, such new law would face a legal challenge, since it would run afoul of the prevailing (though incorrect, IMHO) interpretation of the first sentence of Article I of the 14th Amendment, which provides that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the state wherein they reside.” I would posit that the children of persons who are not legal permanent residents of the U.S. are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S., and that Congress could legislate to limit birthright citizenship as I proposed above. But to make it clear that the law does not violate Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, I would have Congress pass the law pursuant to its power under Section 5 of the 14th Amendment to “enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of” the 14th Amendment. If the law withstands the court challenge, it will finally get rid of just about all of our “anchor baby” problems (going forward, of course, since those born in the U.S. before the law was changed were conferred citizenship upon birth), including the possibility of a child of illegal aliens (or tourists) being eligible for the presidency.