GOP makes a push for Asian/American voters

BELIEVE IT or not, the Republican Party is making an effort to woo Asian/American voters, who in the last two presidential elections have moved more into the Democratic camp.

The GOP hopes that they will be able to sway enough AAPI voters to weaken the impact the small but politically and financially potent influence that Asian/Americans have in key states and races. 

This past summer, the RNC launched the Republican Leadership Initiative, which hopes to recruit “Asian Pacific American grassroots leadership.”

The release of this commercial "It's Our Time," is part of that outreach.

Nothing groundbreaking or innovative, but at least the attempt is there.

"There was a time when Asian Americans seemed reliably pro-Republican. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush got 55 percent of the Asian American vote. Bob Dole also won more of the AAPI vote — 48 percent to Bill Clinton’s 43 percent," wrote Bobby Calvan for Al Jazeera in a three-part series about Asian/American & Pacific Islander voters.

Republicans pin their hopes on the fact that nearly half of Asian/American voters claim to be "independent," according to a Pew study.

The GOP believes that the AAPI vote still can be persuaded to vote GOP.  "In the 2014 midterm elections, some exit polls suggested that Asian Americans were about evenly split between Democratic and Republican candidates — a dramatic turn from the 2012 presidential election, when 73 percent of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) aligned with the Democrats," read the Al Jazeera article.

RELATED: 3-part series on Asian/American electorate by Al Jazeera

• Democrats, Republicans slow to woo the Asian voter
• Asian Americans lag in voter registration
• Seeking campaign case from the Asian boom

It remains to be seen if the party's new message can overcome what's coming out of the mouths of the GOP's presidential candidates. 

There are a number of factors why AAPI have shifted to the Democratic camp in the last eight years. One is President Obama himself, who spent most of his childhood among Asians in Hawaii and Indonesia. 

There is also a fear that the influence of the Christian right on the GOP raises questions about the Republican party's assertion of openness among Asians, the majority of whom are non-Christians.

The biggest obstacle for the GOP efforts is its stance on immigration. Most Asian/Americans, no matter how long they have lived in the U.S., favor a more liberal immigration policy including a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.


The "anchor baby" controversy has set back any efforts of wooing the Asian/American electorate, the fastest growing immigrant groups. In 2012, immigration from Asian countries surpassed immigration from Latin America. The statements and wild anti-immigrant statements the GOP presidential candidates constitute a strong push factor in making AAPI voters swing more towards the Democrats.

What the GOP doesn't understand is that if they take a stand against immigrants and you take a stand against family.

It does not help the Republican party’s attempts to dispel that unfavorable notion when most of the “Asians” in its newly formed “Asian Republican Coalition” turns out to be white businessmen in Hong Kong,

“We have a very broad definition of what constitutes the Asian American community," says white businessman Thomas Britt, the vice chairman of ARC and a former Asia Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

 "The Asian Republican Coalition is open to all Americans, including Asian Americans and those of us like me who are not ethnically Asian but have spent twenty years living in Hong Kong.” That might appeal to some Asians, but certainly not to the admittedly small group of  Asian/Americans that with whom I interact, most of whom strongly resent anything that might even hint at a colonial relationship.

"Is this a joke?" asks Frank Chi, a Democratic media consultant, when told how Britt defined  Asian American. "If not, then this is a fundamental misreading of politics in a multicultural America."

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Anchor babies: The blowback continues

YOU KNOW you're in trouble when Donald Trump starts making fun of you for something you said. Trump wasted no time turning his attention on Jeb Bush, his rival for the GOP presidential nomination.

"In a clumsy move to get out of his 'anchor babies' dilemma, where he signed that he would not use the term and now uses it, he blamed ASIANS," Trump tweeted. Trump then wrote, a few minutes later, "Asians are very offended that JEB said that anchor babies applies to them as a way to be more politically correct to Hispanics. A mess!" 

For once, he was right.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tries to clear up his controversial statements about "anchor babies."

Bush, claimed birthright citizenship 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.” This follows his earlier statement that the term "anchor baby," a derogatory term used to describe the children of undocumented immigrants, was not offensive. In his attempt to clarify his statement, he also said he is NOT for the abolishment of the 14th Amendment and the use of the birthright citizenship clause, which he called "noble."

Despite his awkward attempt to mollify the Latino American community by claiming he meant in reference to Asians. It didn't take long to get a reaction. Asians/Americans almost blew up the social media networks talking about Bush's statement. One student, Redondo High (California) student Jason Fong, started #MyAmericanStory which has taken off in the Twitterverse. AngryAsianMan.com and Reappropriate.com among others chimed in with scathing critiques.

The Organization of Chinese Associations – Asian Pacific American Advocates issued a statement condemning Bush’s comments.

“Our immigrant communities have consistently been painted as an invasion force and the use of the term ‘anchor baby’ is a clear example of this,” said Michael W. Kwan, OCA National President. 

“Governor Bush has now doubled down on his original insensitivity with the use of the derogatory term ‘Anchor Baby’ by characterizing ‘Asian People’ as a whole as non-citizens looking to take advantage of the system. This faulty rhetoric makes millions of law-abiding Asians a target for anti-immigrant and xenophobic attitudes, which will help spread the myth that Asian Americans are somehow less American than white Americans.”

Lawmakers in the 48-member Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) are “strongly condemning” former Bush for linking the derogatory term “anchor babies” to Asian immigrants.

On Monday, when told in Spanish that many Latinos consider the term “anchor babies” to be an offensive slur, Bush defended himself, saying that his critics should “chill out.” The GOP presidential candidate added, “Frankly, it’s more related to Asian people coming into our country, having children, and taking advantage of a noble concept, which is birthright citizenship.”

Bush’s comments come at a time when the Republican presidential candidates are taking on more extreme and anti-immigrant positions to describe undocumented immigrants. Donald Trump was the first candidate to fully embrace the term “anchor baby,” while Bush has maintained that it isn’t offensive and he’ll keep using it until someone gives him a better word.

Several members of Congress aren’t pleased that Bush is trying to downplay the offensive nature of the term, which suggests that undocumented immigrant parents use their U.S. born children as an “anchor” to prevent them from being deported, by pivoting to the Asian community.

“As the representative of the only Asian American majority district in the continental United States, and as a proud American of Japanese descent, I strongly condemn these statements,” CAPAC Chair Emeritus and Rep. Mike Honda told ThinkProgress in an emailed statement. Honda and his family were thrown into a Japanese internment camp while his father served in the U.S. military during World War II.

Honda also stated that he considered the language to be a “slur against all immigrants” and that “The 14th Amendment of our Constitution guarantees citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States, and we cannot stand by and let anyone diminish that right.”

“In Silicon Valley – one of the most diverse areas of our country – we celebrate people from all backgrounds and their contributions to our nation. As the representative of the only Asian American majority district in the continental United States, and as a proud American of Japanese descent, I strongly condemn these statements.”


Rep. Mark Takano of Riverside, CA considers Bush’s remarks to be “offensive, whether he is referencing Hispanic Americans or Asian Americans.” He emailed statement to ThinkProgress, saying, “This type of language is being carelessly used by not just Governor Bush, but by a number of Republican presidential nominee front runners. The GOP needs to realize this is not about being politically correct. It is about treating American citizens with the respect they deserve.”

“No matter which ethnic group you’re referring to, ‘anchor babies’ is a slur that stigmatizes children from birth,” CAPAC Chair and Rep. Judy Chu said in a statement. Chu is the first Chinese/American women elected to Congress. “We need a conversation that leads to a solution on visas and naturalization and seriously considers how we can integrate the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants already living and contributing here. All that is accomplished through talk of anchor-babies — be they from Latin America, Asia, Europe, or Africa — is to use xenophobic fears to further isolate immigrants.”

“It doesn’t matter which community the term is applied to,” Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, a California Latina, issued an emailed statement, “Throwing around dehumanizing insults is unworthy of those seeking our nation’s highest office. ”

Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, who came to the United States as a young child, tweeted tersely: “Really Jeb? This is still remarkably offensive and out of touch, regardless of which group you’re referring to.”

RELATED: Anchor babies: Bush targets Asians

The so-called “birth tourism” to which Bush tried to divert attention — in which immigrant women travel to the United States to give birth so their babies will have U.S. citizenship — does happen, though infrequently and shouldn't be used to muddle his original reference to anchor babies.

A  2009 Pew Research Center study said that about 350,000 children are born to families where at least one parent is undocumented. However, 61 percent of those parents arrived in the U.S. before 2004, 30 percent arrived from 2004 and 2007, and only 9 percent arrived from 2008 and 2010. U.S. citizens can only sponsor their parents at age 21, two decades of uncertainty for undocumented parents who could still be flagged for deportation. 

Asian immigrants in the United States have long been characterized as an invasive force or a menace to whites. Laws were passed denying citizenship was directed at Asians in the Chinese Exclusion Acts of the 19th century. Anti-Asian laws forbidding land ownership and inter-racial marriage were in the books up to the mid-20th century.* No matter how long we've been in America, Asian Americans have always been seen as foreigners, strangers and outsiders.

*UPDATE: Earlier versions of this post said that the Chinese were the only people denied U.S. citizenship. The U.S. Supreme Court's Dredd Scott Decision denied citizenship to anyone of African ancestry - free man or slave.

Bush's gaff does nothing to correct that impression of foreigness among the fearful followers of Bush and the rest of the GOP presidential wannabes.

Ironincally, several years back, Bush warned the Republicans to engage the Asian American electorate. He said in 2013:

"Asian-Americans are actually the canary in the coal mine, I believe, for Republicans ... If we have lost connectivity to emerging voters, not because of our policies so much, but because we are not engaged in issues of importance to them, then I think we pay a price."

Right, Mr. Bush.

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Anchor babies: Bush switches target from Latinos to Asians

UH ... I guess we're supposed to feel better that presidential hopeful Jeb Bush's use of the term "anchor babies" is referring to Asian babies, not Latino ones.

What?!? Thank you, Jeb. I'm so relieved you cleared that up.

Over the weekend, Jeb got into trouble trying to match rival Donald Trump's outrageous statements on immigration supported perhaps abolishment or weakening of the 14th amendment. The Citizenship Clause of the amendment states:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Wong Kim Ark's 1898 passport photo.

Throughout the centuries, that clause has been widely interpreted to mean that if you were born in the U.S., you are automatically an American citizen, even if your parents are not.

Does Bush have advisors or is he making this up on his own? I guess he feels it's alright to insult Asians rather than Latinos. Perhaps, his wife had a good talking to him when he got home. As a Mexican/American, his wife was probably very offended with Bush's original use of the term.

He - and/or his staff - most likely is not aware of the history of the amendment and its why the Asian American community may be sensitive to any weakening of 14th Amendment.

Originally intended to put an end to the debate whether or not recently freed slaves were full-fledged American citizens, the 14th was widened to include all people in an 1898 case involving Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco and whose Chinese parents were not allowed to have citizenship because of the country's racist laws in effect at the time. 

The question of Wong Kim Ark's citizenship went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark that “the amendment, in clear words and in manifest intent, includes the children born within the territory of the United States of all other persons (except children born to enemy aliens and diplomats), of whatever race or color, domiciled within the United States.”

What Bush is referring to are the babies born to tourists from China in an illegal activity called "birth tourism." In most of those cases, the babies return to China with their mothers. Their hope is in the future, if things get dicey in China or the child wants to go to college in America, citizenship will make returning to the U.S. easier. Entering the U.S. on a tourist visa and giving birth is entering the U.S. on false pretenses by lying on your visa application. That violation shouldn't be lumped in with the children of undocumented parents, who are referred to with the derogatory term "anchor baby." 

At a campaign event in Colorado  today (Aug. 25) a voter asked Bush if he regretted "scapegoating" Asians by suggesting they are most at fault for entering the country illegally to give birth so that their children can be U.S. citizens.

"I was talking about a very narrowcasted system of fraud where people are bringing ... pregnant women in to have babies to have birthright citizenship," Bush answered.

Bush's backtracking on the use of "Anchor baby" was awkward and obviously an attempt to blunt the outrage from the Latino communities. All he's done is offend another constituency; a constituency, I might add, that has a faster rate towards citizenship (ie. new  voters) than any other immigrant group.

Thanks, Jeb, but, no thanks!

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

For the sake of irony! Enjoy and listen to the words.

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