Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush at a town hall Tuesday in Englewood, Colo., defended a recent “anchor baby” remark that put him at odds with Asian Americans this week.
“My record, not just (Monday), but over my lifetime, is one that the people can look at. I was talking about a very narrow-casted system of fraud, where people are bringing pregnant women in to have babies,” Bush said after a question from the audience.
Bush on Monday attempted to clarify his recent controversial use of the term “anchor baby,” stating that the comment was “frankly, more related to Asian people.” His clarification only dug a deeper hole, causing a stir within the Asian community. Bush also has remained committed to his “anchor baby” remark, which is considered by many to be a derogatory phrase referring to children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States.
In suggesting that the use of “anchor baby” was not derogatory, Bush on Monday said he was referring to the “birth tourism” industry. There have been examples of services established in the United States that have arranged for pregnant women to come to America on tourist visas to give birth, thereby establishing American citizenship. Reports suggest that it has been most often Chinese families willing to pay for the service.
“What I was talking about was the specific case of fraud being committed where there’s organized efforts – and frankly, it’s more related to Asian people – coming into our country and having children, in that organized effort, taking advantage of a noble concept, which is birthright citizenship,” Bush said at the campaign event in McAllen, Texas.
In Colorado the next morning, the former Florida governor highlighted his Mexican-American wife, Columba Bush, suggesting that he supports a strong “diversity of the culture,” adding that he is “bilingual and bicultural.”
He also pointed to the nation’s broken immigration system, suggesting that the answer is not a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants but instead a “path to legal status.”
“We have to control the immigration system in our country,” Bush said. ”
