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After the first World Trade bombing in the early '90s, Congress passed a series of punitive bills aimed at immigrants. (Mid 1990s)
Prior to the mid 1990s, (undocumented, mostly from Mexico) seasonal workers would come to the US and return to Mexico after the growing season was over, and return the next year. While here, those workers would send money back home to support their families. The 1990s punitive laws had the effect of making the annual migrations exponentially more difficult, with the addition of criminal liability. The net effect was that many of these workers now stayed year-round and eventually brought their families here. As their families expanded, the number of so-called anchor babies increased. The pejorative term "anchor babies" came from the fact that these children, once they turned 21, could petition the government for legal status for their undocumented parents. However, what many people don't realize is that, because the parents entered the US without inspection and accumulated more than 1 year of non-permitted presence, the parents were statutorily barred for 10 years from receiving immigration benefits. They must first leave the US and stay out for 10 years before that can be considered "admissible" to receive benefits. So, while the term "anchor babies" may make initial sense, the reality for so many undocumented parents is much more complicated.