Very recently, Penélope Cruz, the Spanish actress who has acted in quite a few films and has currently finished being one of the stars on the yet to be released Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, announced that she and her husband are expecting a child, and that they plan on having it here in the USA. Let me mention that they own a home here and they have fully legal resident visas, and have been part of both the USA and Spanish scene for several years, making movies in both countries. Fox News Latino promptly ran a story on that pregnancy titled, Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem are having an anchor baby. Should you try to find this post, you will not be able to, it has been pulled. Interestingly enough, I was able to Google the post, and as of this writing it still shows on a Google search, but when you click on the link, it takes you to the home page of Fox Latino. Yes, it has been pulled.
The outcry to that headline was rather big. I suspect that the the immediate and strong condemnation by the fastest growing Republican Latino organization, Somos Republicanos, might have had something to do with it. How angry were Somos Republicanos? They were so angry that their press release said that they were writing a letter to National Right to Life asking them to condemn that statement as well. They felt that the way in which Fox Latino had worded it was dehumanizing to such an extreme that it deserved to be condemned by pro-life organizations! It was promptly pointed out that under the reasoning that Fox Latino used, Nicole Kidman should be called an anchor baby and that her USA citizenship should be taken away. Why is this so?
Well, most of us think of Nicole Kidman as an Australian import actress, but she is not. She was born in Hawaii to Australian parents. The first three years of her life were spent in Washington, DC, where her father was doing biochemical research on cancer. Then they returned to Australia. But, under the reasoning used by Fox Latino, Nicole should not be allowed to be a natural-born USA citizen because her parents were not USA citizens, even though they were here completely legally. But, they were not here on an immigrant visa; they were here on a scientific visa. Since they never intended to be USA citizens, their child should be denied USA citizenship. Thus, this makes Nicole’s case parallel to the case of the Bardem-Cruz family, or at least their child. Nicole could be said to be an anchor baby and deserve to have her natural-born citizenship taken away, and be forced to apply for immigrant and then citizen status. A couple of organizations have pointed out that the difference between actress Penélope and actress Nicole is that the latter one is white and blue-eyed while the former one is morena and brown-eyed. To some degree, I agree.
What makes this particular article so bad is that it crosses the line from an argument about babies born to people without visas to now a clearly anti-alien argument. Remember, in the case of both the Bardem-Cruz family and the Kidman family, we are talking about couples who fully complied with ALL and EVERY applicable USA requirement. They both have and had residence visas, which do not require one to become a citizen. In fact, immigrant visas do not require you to become a citizen either. However, either visa, the permanent resident or the immigrant visa, also carry with them most of the rights of a USA citizen. You also have most of the duties of a USA citizen. For instance, I received my draft notice (several decades ago) before I was a citizen of the USA, while I was here on an immigrant visa. Thus, while neither the resident nor the immigrant nor the person here on certain types of work visa may vote or hold office, yet they legally have both constitutional rights and the duty to defend this country.
One need not even be an immigrant to be drafted. The legislation on the Selective Service is that any resident alien may be selected for service in the Armed Forces. While the Selective Service is currently deactivated, it is still part of the legal framework of this country. In fact, resident aliens can sign up for the Armed Forces and many have. If you serve honorably for three years, you earn your citizenship. In some cases, such as mine, they decided to give me my citizenship before I took the oath of service because my citizenship paperwork was already in process. I earned my citizenship. But, I digress.
Yet, here is Fox News, yet again unfair and unbalanced. They have taken the decision of two legal residents of this country, to have their child in this country, and twisted it into the story of two foreigners trying to have an anchor baby to ensure that they cannot be deported. Seriously? How many of you believe that either Penélope Cruz or her husband are in serious danger of deportation? How many of you believe that they would be denied immigrant status should they wish to change from a permanent resident visa to an immigrant visa? And, how many of you seriously think that they are worried about being deported? It is no wonder that Somos Republicanos reacted so strongly. It is no wonder that they accused Fox News of xenophobia. Let me remind you again, that these are Republicans, not Democrats. These are not liberals; they are conservatives.
Sad to say, if you Google the article, you will also find people such as the president of the Tea Party of Minnesota arguing that this is indeed an anchor baby, by definition, and that Fox News Latino did the right thing by labeling their baby an anchor baby. And you wonder why I worry so about the Tea Party and about the current anti-immigrant climate of this country. No, it is no longer an anti-illegal-immigrant climate. Fox News Latino did us the service of making it clear that it is an anti-alien climate, whether here legally or not.
I think that in today’s political climate which is so very divisive, you can find a lot of coverage of almost anything that is biased and slanted. It seems to be the way things are today. Not that this excuses it by any means, but both sides–or I should say all sides as there seem to be many–seem to be indulging in media bias and slanting the news in really ugly ways. I say a pox on all their houses. Alix
The corporate conservative groups in the US are using their wealth to create and push “issues” through their media empires. Their interest is expanding their wealth and power.
The fact that there was so little consternation over the largest group of illegal immigrants back in the 1980s when that group was white (Irish), but so much hand-wringing when the largest group is now a bit browner, leads me to the conclusion that a lot of the protests against illegal immigrants today is sheer bigotry and racism.
I have a dear friend who came here legally–zillions of pounds of paperwork and lots of money and waiting. My thought is that whoever you are and wherever you are from, you do it the right way. I get upset by illegal anyone for many reasons some of them a matter of right and wrong and some a matter of humanitarian concerns.
When you come here illegally, you open yourself up to being exploited. You will be paid less, you will not have some of the options regarding harmful conditions or unemployment coverage or workman’s compl. You do not have options that are open to any legal immigrant.
It isn’t about what ethnicity someone is–it is about doing things the right way or the wrong way .
Our country is made up of immigrants. On my father’s side, they came in 1650 and were persecuted even then because of their religion and on my mother’s side I am the grandchild of immigrants from Sweden whose names were changed at Ellis Island because the folks doing the paperwork couldn’t spell their real name–and aren’t all Swedes named Johnson? Well when they got done with them at Ellis Island, they were!! . My children are also the grandchildren of immigrants from Ireland. There are stories in their father’s family about the signs that said “no dogs or Irish allowed” or “No Irish need apply.” And they were legal!
That being said, there is a lot of hype that is simply nonsense.
As far as I am concerned, it doesn’t matter if you are white, brown, yellow, or black, if you are here illegally, go back. We have laws, they should be enforced. Anchor babies should not be given U.S. Citizenship just because they were born here of illegal parents.
Hmm, Father Ernesto’s post was not about people without visas. His post is about people with visas against whom there is inappropriate reporting. Because he was a visa immigrant, he is quite aware of the rights that resident aliens have, regardless of the specific-type of visa they have. Because he was drafted while still a resident alien, he is quite aware of the duties that come with residence.
Thus, to have Fox News insult two visa residents, and imply that their baby should not have citizenship, makes Father Orthoduck wonder how long before they go after other visa residents to try to deny them rights and privileges.
The climate that Fox News has helped create does not differentiate between visa and non-visa immigrants. And, as their story on the Bardem-Cruz family indicated, Fox News is quite willing to stoke anti-alien feelings, if it gives them viewership. That the outrage of Fox News was even temporarily directed against a family who complied with all the laws is dangerous to any one of us who came to this country as a visa resident.
By the way, I am a Fox News fan, especially Bill O’Reilly.
What I was trying to say in the post above is that many legal immigrants have not been treated in the manner in which we would like to assume they would be throughout our history. This is not a new phenomonen. IT is abhorrant however and should not have happened then and should not happen now. Alix
What I find especially stupid about all this is that they forget that they are Spanish, from a country belonging to the European Union, not hispanic or from any Latin American country. Spain is not Mexico you know? 😉
I mean, is there any advantage having the US citizenship compared to being a European citizen?. I sincerely don’t think so!!!
They treat them as third world country people trying to improve their status and they are from a 1st world country, in Europe, with all the advantages that has. Don’t forget that!.
What makes them call their baby that horrible word??? when Orlando Bloom (English) and Miranda Kerr (Australian) had their baby in Los Angeles!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1346265/Miranda-Kerr-Orlando-Blooms-new-son-weighs-10lbs.html
How does a rich celebrity foreigner’s baby weaken the economy?
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom are white. Penélope Cruz and her husband are not.
Of course they are white!!!.
This is racism at its best. Spanish people are white European. Don’t lump all Spanish-speakers in one big bag, because it is a very diverse language spoken in several continents. Spanish speaker doesn’t equal Latino.
I think you missed the point. In the eyes of those in the anti-alien movement (which is not the same as wanting the immigration mess straightened out), Spanish (Latinos) are seen as non-White, regardless of their origin or their “looks.”
I know their point of view, but I didn’t find a mention in this article disproving this theory.
Which theory? I freely admit to being confused.