Jeb Bush: When I said 'anchor babies,' I meant Asians, not Latinos

(Image credit: YouTube.com/Jerry Pace)

published 24 August 2015

Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) clarified his recent use of the term "anchor babies," one many consider a racial slur, during a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border Monday. He deflected criticism that he's been calling for a crackdown on Latino immigration by shifting the focus to Asian immigrants' birthright citizenship.

"What I was talking about was the specific case of fraud being committed, where there's organized efforts," he said. "And frankly it's more related to Asian people, coming into our country, having children."

Bush was likely referring to cases of reported Chinese "birth tourism." The presidential hopeful also called out Hillary Clinton's campaign and others who have taken issue with his use of "anchor babies."

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"This is all how politics plays," he said. "And by the way, I think we need to take a step back and chill out a little bit as it relates to the political correctness that somehow you have to be scolded every time you say something."

Watch his comments below. Julie Kliegman

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.