Baby Born On Plane Near U.S. Called An ‘Anchor Baby’ By Critics [Video]

A baby born on a plane flying to the United States on a China Airlines flight has become the center of a political debate over illegal immigrants and whether or not the baby girl could be considered a so-called anchor baby. A Taiwanese woman is said to have gone into labor at 30,000 feet, and since the birth occurred near American soil, the child may be granted U.S. citizenship depending on how the paperwork is filed. To top it off all, video cameras were rolling as the baby was born on the plane.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Hillary Clinton’s campaign claims the anchor baby term is hateful, and says any GOP candidate who uses it is attacking U.S. citizens. Jeb Bush and Donald Trump, on the other hand, believe it is an accurate description of the situation.

Passengers aboard the passenger jet were witnesses to quite an unusual event: the China Airlines flight added an extra passenger while still in the air. Edmund Chen says he had a front row seat to the drama as he recorded the baby being born on the plane.

“I just thought it was an amazing experience to see someone giving birth right in front of me – I mean,” said Chen, according to CNN. “It was bad. They tried to cover the whole row with blankets, but…”

Another passenger, Amira Rajput, described the mother as “tough as nails,” and described how everyone helped in any way they could.

“It was super chill,” Rajput said. “People were super quiet and calm so that this woman could have a stress-free experience.”

The little girl’s birth happened six hours after the plane took off from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Luckily, Dr. Angelica Zen, a UCLA resident physician, happened to be on board to help with the birth, although she had never assisted with a delivery.

“My training is in internal medicine pediatrics so we do adults and kids, but really no pregnant women at all, so since my training we haven’t done much OBGYN [obstetrics/gynecology],” Zen said, according to Reuters.”I was a little bit nervous.”

The baby was born on the plane only 30 minutes before the plane landed at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska. The Civil Aeronautics Administration said the nationality of the baby girl will depend on the birth certificate issued by the U.S. hospital since the baby was born within U.S. airspace.

Rajput also explained that a U.S. border patrol agent asked to see the mother’s passport after they landed.

“He told me that this is something foreign women do, to try and deliver overseas for citizenship,” Rajput said, according to ABC. “This is a political issue. People die to come to this country.”

On social media, some Americans were outraged by the story, and called the little girl an anchor baby. The Oxford Dictionary defines “anchor baby” as follows.

“Used to refer to a child born to a noncitizen mother in a country which has birthright citizenship, especially when viewed as providing an advantage to family members seeking to secure citizenship or legal residency.”

Some find the timing of the baby’s birth on the plane to be suspicious since the unidentified Taiwanese woman was 32-weeks pregnant. This put the mother just under the acceptable threshold for flying to the United States, since the China Airlines’ website states that “healthy expectant mothers who are less than 32 weeks of pregnancy or more than 8 weeks from the estimated delivery date may travel and be accepted by China Airlines as normal passengers.”

Do you think the little girl should be given U.S. citizenship since the baby was born on a plane within United States airspace?

[Image via YouTube]