Republican candidates distance themselves from Trump’s immigration policies

Donald Trump has had a lot to say about immigration this campaign cycle, and it has become clear that other republican presidential hopefuls want to distance themselves from some of the more inflammatory statements made by the real estate developer and reality television star. So far, Trump has been heavily criticized for suggesting that a wall be built along the U.S.-Mexico border, that birthright citizenship should be revoked, and that undocumented workers should be immediately deported.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Jeb Bush helped create the space necessary for himself and other candidates to talk about immigration in a manner that is independent of Trump and his ideas. After stating that the Republican party was at a “crossroads,” Bush asked if the party would take “the Reagan approach, the hopeful optimistic approach” to immigration, or if the party would take “the Donald Trump approach—the approach that says that everything is bad, that everything is coming to an end?”

The distance that Bush created between Trump’s proposals on illegal immigration and his own seemed to be embraced by other candidates hoping to dissociate themselves from Trumps view to one extent or another. However, Bush has been the subject of criticism himself in recent weeks for his use of the term “anchor babies” to describe children of illegal immigrants that are born in the United States.

Immigration policies should continue to be the subject of ongoing debate in run up to the 2016 election, particularly since these policies may be subject to significant modification once a new president is elected to office.