- May 11, 2002
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From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...5db8117e4b08cd3359cf324?kvcommref=mostpopular
Way to be a racist jackass Jeb Bush! What's next Asian Internment Camps like WWII?
GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush claimed on Monday that his use of the term “anchor babies” was not offensive because he was referring to the practice of people, primarily Asians
“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 having children in that organized effort, taking advantage of a noble concept, which is birthright citizenship,” he said.
“As I said in Spanish, my background, my life, the fact I’ve been immersed in the immigrant experience, this is ludicrous for the Clinton campaign and others to suggest that somehow I’m using a derogatory term,” Bush said Monday.
The term “anchor babies” and the recent wave of Republican presidential candidates calling for an end to birthright citizenship is likely to offend Asian immigrants, just as it offended Hispanic immigrants. Asian-Americans are the fastest growing minority group in the country and are becoming more politically active, making up 3.4 percent of the electorate in 2012. Immigration is one of the top issues for Asian voters, and many of them are beneficiaries of birthright citizenship.
Historically, a lot of anti-immigrant rhetoric and moves to end birthright citizenship have stemmed from a backlash against Asian immigrants. Anti-Chinese sentiment was rampant in the United States in the late 19th century, as many people worried that these "racially inferior" individuals would take jobs away from hardworking Americans. Those fears led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which essentially stopped Chinese immigration and barred Chinese residents of the U.S. from becoming citizens.
Officials also tried to stop the American-born children of Chinese immigrants from becoming citizens. But in 1898 the Supreme Court affirmed in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that immigrants' children born in the United States are entitled to citizenship.
Way to be a racist jackass Jeb Bush! What's next Asian Internment Camps like WWII?