Immigrant groups are picketing his events. His recent remarks on “anchor babies” have outraged Latino and Asian groups. Democrats are attacking him in both English and Spanish.
More trouble for Donald Trump? No, the target of all this ire is Jeb Bush.
The former Florida governor’s decision to defend the term “anchor babies” — a term widely deemed offensive by Latinos and other minorities — has ignited new attacks against him from Democrats and taunts from Trump, his top GOP rival.
The criticism comes amid Bush’s continuing struggle to gain traction in a Republican primary race that he was widely expected to dominate but is now defined by Trump as the clear front-runner.
During Bush’s visit to Colorado on Tuesday, members of Progress Now, a liberal advocacy organization, waved signs protesting Bush’s recent use of the term “anchor baby.”
“Jeb, stop slurring immigrants,” one sign said.
Inside the hall, Bush was asked whether he regretted using the term, including a statement Monday that pointed at the Asian community.
Bush sidestepped the question about Asians and focused his answer on Latinos.
Bush told the Sheridan forum that he believes in the constitutional right of children born to immigrants here illegally to automatically become citizens. The statement sets him apart from Trump, who says he would end birthright citizenship.
“My record is pretty clear,” he said, referencing his marriage to Mexican American philanthropist Columba Bush and cultural affinity for Latinos.
He said his “anchor baby” statement refers to children born to women who cross the border illegally for the purpose of having their children be born citizens.
Until last week, Bush had not used the term in public this year, according to a Washington Post review of his comments. His 2013 book, “Immigration Wars,” describes the complexities of illegal immigration at great length, but the phrase never appears.
The trouble for Bush began a week ago when he used the term unprompted in the final minutes of a radio interview with host Bill Bennett, the former Reagan-era education secretary.
The next day, Bush strongly defended his words and suggested that he was just referencing terminology used by others. “Do you have a better term?” he said. “You give me a better term and I’ll use it.”
When reporters asked about the subject again Monday during a visit to the border town of McAllen, Texas, Bush said people needed to “chill out,” casting criticism as an attempt to enforce political correctness.
Then Bush created a new problem for himself by adding parenthetically that “frankly it’s more related to Asian people.”
On immigration, Bush has previously sought to portray himself as the moderate in the GOP field, And on Tuesday he repeated his stance that the country must control the border but that a wall won’t solve the problem. In a response to Trump’s call for deporting all those here illegally, Bush said he favors creating a path to citizenship for those who play by the rules.
Denver Post Staff Writer Tom McGhee, The Washington Post and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
