MSNBC
By Bridget Todd
June 16, 2015
Former
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush officially announced his 2016 presidential
campaign on Monday at Miami Dade College, a largely Latino school chosen
to demonstrate Bush’s
potential appeal to Latino voters. But in one of the most surprising
moments of his speech, a group of immigration activists interrupted
Bush’s planned remarks by demanding he support deportation relief
programs.
The
demonstrators, members of local immigration organizations like United
We Dream, GetEQUAL Florida, Alliance for Citizenship, Farm-Workers
Association, were led by Homestead’s
Equal Rights for All. They wore neon yellow shirts spelling out “Legal
status is not enough” and clutched signs reading “DACA and DAPA are acts
of love.”
In
the prepared remarks Bush’s campaign sent to reporters, the word
“immigration” was nowhere to be found. Bush went off script to respond
to the demonstrators’ heckles,
saying, “By the way, just so that our friends know, the next president
of the United States will pass meaningful immigration reform so that
that will be solved – not by executive order,” an apparent reference to
President Obama’s executive action to shield
millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation.
“Jeb
Bush thought he could dodge the immigration issue all together at
today’s announcement but immigrant youth forced the former governor to
address an issue he’s been
inconsistent on,” Julieta Garibay, co-founder of United We Dream, said
in a statement.
Bush’s
policies on immigration have varied. He endorsed a pathway to
citizenship for undocumented immigrants in 2013, but later backed away
from that position, only to
support it again days later.
Saul
Aleman of Homestead ERA, the demonstrator in the “H” shirt, said he
finds Bush’s positions on immigration to be insufficient if they do not
include a pathway to full citizenship.
In
a phone interview, Aleman told msnbc that the protesters felt they had
to “stand up for our families” during Bush’s announcement.
“We
felt he was putting words in our mouth that our community didn’t want
full citizenship. We can represent our community better than he can,”
Aleman explained.
Aleman
said he is wary of politicians who use immigration as a way to make
inroads with Latino voters while not delivering tangible results.
“Bush
has more work to do for our community. He has to stand by us if he
wants our community to stand with him. We want to send a clear message
to any presidential candidate,
Democrat or Republican, that our community will not be played with
politically.”
“Anyone who stands in our way will be held accountable,” he added.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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