As businessman and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump kicks the issue of birthright citizenship to the forefront of the political debate, the use of the term “anchor baby” to refer to a child born in the United States to illegal immigrant parents has gotten renewed attention.
“You mean it’s not politically correct, and yet everybody uses it?” Mr. Trump said this week in response to a reporter’s asking him if he was aware the term was offensive. “So you know what — give me a different term. Give me a different term. What else would you like me to say?”
A suggestion was American-born child of undocumented immigrants.
“Oh, you want me to say that instead, OK? No, I’ll use the word ’anchor baby.’ Excuse me — I’ll use the word ’anchor baby,’” Mr. Trump said.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, one of Mr. Trump’s main GOP rivals in the presidential race, told reporters he didn’t regret using the term, saying, “You give me a better term and I’ll use it.”
“Here’s the deal — look, what I said was it’s commonly referred to that. That’s what I said. I didn’t use it as my own language,” Mr. Bush said. “You want to get to the policy for a second? I think that people born in this country ought to be American citizens.”
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump pushes birthright citizenship to forefront of political debate
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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