PAUL RYAN Uses DEROGATORY TERM For Undocumented People To Argue For Immigration Reform

[Segami]

WISCONSIN — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the latest GOP champion of an immigration reform bill in the House of Representatives, used an offensive term for undocumented people while touring town halls in Wisconsin this week to deliver the conservative pitch for comprehensive immigration reform.


Across Wisconsin, Ryan’s presentation emphasized achieving border security goals and universal E-Verify before moving undocumented immigrants to a “probationary” status. His embrace of a path to citizenship is certainly a shift away from the “self-deportation” immigration position Ryan campaigned on as a vice presidential candidate. But in responding to a skeptical participant at an Burlington, Wisconsin town hall, Ryan used the derogatory term “anchor babies” to describe the American-born children of undocumented immigrants, who are citizens under the 14th Amendment:

That’s what they call it, anchor babies. It’s a person who comes and has a child here, if you’re born here you’re a naturalized citizen. You have to change the constitution. There’s a little bit of legal debate about whether you have to or not. I think it comes down fairly clearly that you have to change the constitution to change the definition of citizenship to not being born here or being born with legal parents. That will take a long, long time, years [...] But it’s really treating a symptom, right. People are coming across the border illegal or overstaying their visas. Therefore illegal immigration is fairly easy, and then people are having what’s called anchor babies.

http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2013/05/01/1945601/paul-ryan-anchor-babies/

[DonViejo]

1. The words "Paul Ryan" is a derogatory term. nt

[hack89]

2. “Anchor babies” is derogatory?

I can understand "illegal immigrant" but I don't see the issue with this.

[yellowcanine]

5. I can see that immigrant groups could consider it derogatory.

Enough so that a politician should think twice before using it. Any time you have to say, "that's what they call it" you are probably in deep water and responding to a negative audience reaction. It mostly just sounds crude, in my opinion.

[pampango]

16. ""Anchor baby" is a pejorative term for a child born in the United States to immigrant parents, who,

as an American citizen, supposedly can later facilitate immigration for relatives. The term is generally used as a derogatory reference to the supposed role of the child, who automatically qualifies as an American citizen and can later act as a sponsor for other family members. The term is often used in the context of the debate over illegal immigration to the United States to refer to children of illegal immigrants, but could also be used in a similar sense outside of that context to refer to the child of any immigrant.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization that advocates tighter restrictions on immigration, argues that defining the term as offensive is inaccurate and is done for purposes of political rhetoric; according to Krikorian, "'[An anchor baby] is a child born to an illegal immigrant,'" and the revision of the definition to state that the term is offensive was done to make a political statement. According to Fox News:

Bob Dane, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington-based organization that seeks to end illegal immigration, said the revised definition panders to a small but vocal group of critics who are "manipulating the political, cultural and now linguistic landscape" of the United States. "Publishing word definitions to fit politically correct molds surrenders the language to drive an agenda," Dane told FoxNews.com. "This dictionary becomes a textbook for the open borders lobby."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_baby

[hack89]

18. Thanks. nt

[Sanity Claws]

3. Notice how he misused the term "naturalized citizen."

A naturalized citizen is a person who becomes a citizen but was not one by birth. He used it to refer to a citizen by birth.

He is sooooo confused. He should take his head out of his ass and actually learn something.

[G_j]

8. he doesn't mind

getting into issues way over his head.
How could such a complete narcissist be wrong about anything?

[Shrike47]

4. Sorry, I don't see the term as derogatory.

[yellowcanine]

6. Sorry but some immigrant groups do because it is a stereotype.

[datasuspect]

7. of course you don't

too bad that darn old PC keeps you from calling them what you'd really like to call them.

[Bandit]

9. How about the term "WOP"

It was a term used in the forties and fifties to describe some immigrants, mainly Italians.
Stands for without papers...

[aikoaiko]

10. How interesting the "undocumented" is preferred but "without papers" is not.

Interesting

[truebrit71]

11. Me either. In fact, it is highly descriptive. It perfectly describes Michele Malkin for instance...

...which makes her xenophobic stance about immigrants so interesting to contemplate..

[Jenoch]

12. When did the term "anchor babies" become a pejorative?

I was unaware until reading this thread that it is considered offensive. What is the alternative term for what 'anchor babies' describes?

[randome]

13. I don't get it, either.

On another Paul Ryan-related note, I looked this DU thread over last night and it's still a keeper. I'm biased, though, since I contributed a lot to it. But so did a lot of other DUers!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021369933

[Jenoch]

14. I glanced at that thread but didn't read many of the posts because I was confused.

What exactly did Paul Ryan say to ignite such a thread? Either I missed it or have forgotten it.

[randome]

17. I think what started it was his claiming to have climbed so many mountains.

And then his marathon running time, which turned out to be nonsense.

It was in the vein of the Chuck Norris books and web site that promote his AWESOMENESS.

Not for everyone's taste, granted, but it is what it is.

[Segami]

15. Its derogatory & offensive.

"Anchor baby" is a pejorative term for a child born in the United States to immigrant parents, who, as an American citizen, supposedly can later facilitate immigration for relatives.[1][2][3][4] The term is generally used as a derogatory reference to the supposed role of the child, who automatically qualifies as an American citizen and can later act as a sponsor for other family members.[2][5] The term is often used in the context of the debate over illegal immigration to the United States to refer to children of illegal immigrants, but could also be used in a similar sense outside of that context to refer to the child of any immigrant.[1]


A related term, "anchor child", referring in this case to "very young immigrants who will later sponsor immigration for family members who are still abroad", was used in reference to Vietnamese boat people from about 1987.[1][6][7][8][9] "Anchor baby" appeared in print in 1996, but remained relatively obscure until 2006, when it found new prominence amid the increased focus on the immigration debate in the United States.[1][2][9][10] Lexicographer Grant Barrett nominated the term for the American Dialect Society's 2006 Word of the Year.[9]


It is generally considered pejorative. In 2011 the American Heritage Dictionary added an entry for the term in the dictionary's new edition, which did not indicate that the term was disparaging. After eighty signers of an online petition by Jennifer Chenoweth-Ruiz[11] and a critical blog piece by Mary Giovagnoli, the director of the Immigration Policy Center, a pro-immigration research group in Washington, the dictionary updated its online definition to indicate that the term is "offensive", similar to its entries on ethnic slurs.[10][12] As of 2012, the definition reads:

n. Offensive Used as a disparaging term for a child born to a noncitizen mother in a country that grants automatic citizenship to children born on its soil, especially when the child's birthplace is thought to have been chosen in order to improve the mother's or other relatives' chances of securing eventual citizenship.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_baby

[randome]

19. Are you saying we're as dumb as Paul Ryan? Cause them's fightin' words!

Just kidding. Seriously, it seems like most of us did not see it as pejorative so it's hard to get upset at Ryan for thinking the same.

[Jenoch]

20. You wrote a long post on the subject,

but I did not see where it was explained WHY the term is offensive. Is it offensive because of the people that use it are generally against undocumented immigration?

Also, what term or phrase is suggested to describe the U.S. born children of undocumented immigrants and the legal situation it creates?

I'm not trying to be offensive here, just trying to understand the issue better.

[pampango]

21. To give Ryan a 'tiny' amount of credit, he is trying to sell immigration reform to the tea party so

he has to use the terms that they like to use, e.g. 'anchor babies', 'illegals', 'build the damn wall', etc. As a "Tea Party" Senator, he is kind of on their 'hot seat' for coming out in favor of immigration reform. He is expected to use the 'right' terminology with them when discussing this reform.