# Why the sudden surge in Xenophobia? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 4, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155 "2010-08-04T15:36:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/161 "2010-08-05T23:52:07Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Pick one. Does the GOP get credit for the Civil Rights Act or is it independent of the GOPs that have gone before, and thus can disagree with the 14th Amendment hypocrisy-free? The modern GOP gets no credit for anything. It’s a different bunch of people. I don’t get credit for things my grandfather did. What’s hypocritical is a bunch of boll weevils using the GOP name. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/162 "2010-08-05T23:52:50Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > > > Anchor babies: replacing welfare queens in the public consciousness. > > Similar in that neither actually exist. Nope. That’s my point. Thanks for understanding it. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/163 "2010-08-06T00:31:12Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Oh, for Pete’s sake. It doesn’t even strain credibility. You said parents of citizens get deported at the same rate as the rest of them. Where’s _your_ cite, huh? You’re the one making the claim. Are you arguing the law treats the parents of illegal immigrants differently? I think you are the one that needs to provide a cite. I know of no government policy that does that. Anchor babies is a made up concept to create a villain that deserves no rights. However the law is implemented by humans, many who have a sense of compassion, so it would not surprise me if those enforcing the law opted not to tear families apart. The argument against the 14th amendment in my opinion is so those so called compassionate conservatives can simply deny humanity to those foreigners and pretend like what they are doing is the right thing to do because it would be matter of law. They are stripping defenseless children of rights so they can pretend they are still good people in their xenophobia. It amazes me how these so called Christians are looking to pass judgment on babies and condemn them to a lesser life then they would be granted in America. ---
**Author:** ![SweetLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SweetLucy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetLucy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/164 "2010-08-06T04:16:48Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > . > > Of course, I can imagine the reaction of a paranoid right-winger, when asked to present proof of parental citizenship at the hospital after the baby is born, otherwise the baby gets deported. That’ll be a barrel of laughs. Or were they imaginging only parents who speak spanish will be asked to prove citizenship? You stole my thunder 🙂 I always wondered how we would enforce denial of citizenship to newborns- demand that each new mother prove her citizenship? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/165 "2010-08-06T04:55:43Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Apparently, Republicans are now [unhappy](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_republicans_birthright_citizenship) with the 14th amendment they passed 145 years ago. More specifically, the provision that guarantees citizenship to all persons born in the United States. These are not the same type of Republicans, they haven’t been since the Southern Strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/166 "2010-08-06T15:20:36Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > > Oh, for Pete’s sake. It doesn’t even strain credibility. You said parents of citizens get deported at the same rate as the rest of them. Where’s _your_ cite, huh? You’re the one making the claim. > > Are you arguing the law treats the parents of illegal immigrants differently? I think you are the one that needs to provide a cite. > > I know of no government policy that does that. Dude, seriously? I already did. I quoted the specific law, full text and everything. This is what I get for treating the Pit like it’s GD. You don’t care who’s right. You just care about backslapping each other and earning your Doper points. “Hey guys, watch this: ‘Anchor babies aren’t a problem’. HAHAHA, wasn’t that fun?” “Oh yeah? Well, ‘anchor babies’ parents receive no special treament at all’. HAHAHAHA, wow! Did you hear what I just said? High five!” “Ahem. Stand back everyone…‘There is no law or statute that even _allows for_ special treatment of anchor babies’ parents.’ OMG! Did you see that! Did you see what I said! Holy crap, I’m the Dopiest Doper that ever Doped! W00t!” Me: “Um…what about 8 U.S.C 1229b(b)1D?” Everyone else: “Shut up, **Chessic Sense**.” ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/167 "2010-08-06T16:09:49Z")
Chessic Sense, in our quest to get my SO legal status we inquired about this one particular exception but we were told this only applies to Visa overstays, to people who entered the country legally as adults, not illegal immigrants running across the border to the nearest hospital. I don’t know if this is true or more exceptions would be made of that exception, but this was from an immigration attorney so YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/168 "2010-08-06T16:19:39Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > [@boytyperanma](#): > > > > Are you arguing the law treats the parents of illegal immigrants differently? I think you are the one that needs to provide a cite. > > > > I know of no government policy that does that. > > Dude, seriously? I already did. I quoted the specific law, full text and everything. This is what I get for treating the Pit like it’s GD. You don’t care who’s right. You just care about backslapping each other and earning your Doper points. > > “Hey guys, watch this: ‘Anchor babies aren’t a problem’. HAHAHA, wasn’t that fun?” > “Oh yeah? Well, ‘anchor babies’ parents receive no special treament at all’. HAHAHAHA, wow! Did you hear what I just said? High five!” > “Ahem. Stand back everyone…‘There is no law or statute that even _allows for_ special treatment of anchor babies’ parents.’ OMG! Did you see that! Did you see what I said! Holy crap, I’m the Dopiest Doper that ever Doped! W00t!” > > Me: “Um…what about 8 U.S.C 1229b(b)1D?” You (and/or your friend) claimed that _judges_ may consider family status during deportation proceedings. The law you cited allows the _attorney general_ to do so. Now, the effect may be the same, but you have not offered support for your specific contention. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/169 "2010-08-06T16:48:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You (and/or your friend) claimed that _judges_ may consider family status during deportation proceedings. The law you cited allows the _attorney general_ to do so. > > Now, the effect may be the same, but you have not offered support for your specific contention. My contention was not necessarily that judges consider it, but that having a USC child will factor into whether or not you get deported. You said “they get deported like anyone else” and I’m saying they don’t. It doesn’t matter if the attorney general does it or if the judge does it. Now, with that being said, I cited a law that gives the attorney general the right to consider it a factor. And I just asked for clarification from my coworker (I like the guy and all, but he’s not my friend). He said that it’s not in the law _per se_, but a child’s status has been treated as a factor by every immigration judge he’s ever met. Trust me, that’s a lot of judges. That’s good enough of a cite for me. Is it good enough of a cite for you? Maybe not. But since it’s well-known on the Dope that I’m a federal contractor working in law enforcement (for now), I think you should give me the benefit of the doubt. I’d give you the guy’s bona fides (and my own) but this is an anonymous message board and I’m not comfortable doing that just to win an internet argument. So, again, my post is my cite. Take it or leave it, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/170 "2010-08-06T17:55:11Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > > > Anchor babies: replacing welfare queens in the public consciousness. > > Similar in that neither actually exist. Nope - while the welfare queen in her caddy cashing foodstamps for filet mignon might be a myth, there ARE children of illegal immigrants who get automatic citizenship due to be being born in the US. The term is used in an offensive fashion, and the legal application is questionable (I will let \*\*Chessic \*\*fight that one), but these children DO exist - several hundred thousand per year depending on which estimate from which source you choose to use. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/171 "2010-08-06T18:07:34Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > > [@foolsguinea](#): > > > > Similar in that neither actually exist. > > Nope - while the welfare queen in her caddy cashing foodstamps for filet mignon might be a myth, there ARE children of illegal immigrants who get automatic citizenship due to be being born in the US. The term is used in an offensive fashion, and the legal application is questionable (I will let \*\*Chessic \*\*fight that one), but these children DO exist - several hundred thousand per year depending on which estimate from which source you choose to use. Yes, there are babies who get citizenship as you describe. The “baby” part of the phrase isn’t the part that’s in dispute. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155/172 "2010-08-13T05:54:53Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > So why the sudden hard-on against illegal immigrants? What’s made it so important now that the Overton Window is being pushed to the point that the 14th amendment needs to be changed? Democrats, when harried about their dismal efforts to address the unemployment rate, keep asking if Republicans have better ideas for job creation if they’re so smart. It’d take a lot of people to round up 12 million illegal immigrants, so there’s the answer. Not only would it put a lot of Americans to work, illegals won’t be taking _those_ jobs, no sir. Nah, it’s really the scapegoat thing mentioned on the first page. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sudden-surge-in-xenophobia/549155.md?page=8)