United States
What is an “anchor baby”?
An “anchor baby” refers to a mother having her child in the US to obtain jus soli citizenship for immigration reasons. As a citizen, the child can then sponsor citizenship for their relatives upon turning 18. In this case, the mother is using her child as an “anchor” to the country. It is considered to be a rude and derogatory term, usually applied by conservatives to undocumented immigrants and refugees.
Worldwide Taxation
The United States is one of the two countries that taxes its citizens worldwide (the other is Eritrea.) This means that if you are a US citizen, even if you have never been naturalized, meaning you were born to parents living abroad (jus sanguinis), or have left the US with no intention of coming back, you are still eligible for taxation.
Renunciation Fees
Believe it or not, renouncing your citizenship to the United States isn’t free or cheap. In fact, the price has risen more than 400% since 2014 from $450 to $2,350. It is the highest renunciation fee in the world.
While many complain about jus soli, especially in regards to immigration, one must consider the other side of the story. It’s true that the baby is a US citizen who can sponsor citizenship for their relatives upon reaching the age of majority. However, even if they leave the US with their parents as soon as they are born, they must pay taxes because of worldwide taxation laws. And if they want to renounce their citizenship to avoid this, they have to pay an exorbitant renunciation fee. While US birth tourism may have no legislative limits, these financial complications limit the ways people can supposedly take advantage of the system.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a territory and therefore cannot grant citizenship. Hong Kong’s version of citizenship is “right of abode,” or the ability to stay in Hong Kong without limits on the extent or condition of stay. This functions in a jus soli manner, so a child of Mainland Chinese parents born in Hong Kong still qualifies for these benefits. As a result, many parents from the mainland go to Hong Kong to have their children so that they can obtain right of abode for their child. This has resulted in much backlash similar to Americans complaining about “anchor babies”, as it puts a strain on the hospital and education system (Hong Kong permanent residents also receive educational benefits.)
Medical Tourism
Medical Tourism is a term for people traveling to other countries to receive medical treatment. This can be for one or two main reasons: lower cost or reduced wait times. For example, since healthcare is privatized in the US, it is extremely expensive. However countries with public health systems also have longer wait times. Therefore, there is a tradeoff between cost and speed of care that may drive a patient to travel to prioritize one.
Circumvention Tourism
A derivative of medical tourism, circumvention tourism focuses specifically on traveling to another country to get medical procedures done that are illegal or unavailable in the patient’s home country. For instance, pregnant women in countries that forbid abortion may travel to a country that allows the practice.
While there are many forms of tourism that are looked down upon or not appreciated, traveling to another country and expanding one’s horizons can never be a truly bad thing. This summer, try to expose yourself to new things—even if you can’t travel abroad, explore your city and get out of your comfort zone.