Immigrant rights group seeks to spike Jeb Bush SLC fundraiser | Buzz Blog
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Immigrant rights group seeks to spike Jeb Bush SLC fundraiser

Utah's Familia questions Jeb Bush's immigration stance

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On Tuesday, Aug. 25, if you shell out $2,700, you can have the pleasure of attending a fundraiser lunch at noon for Jeb Bush's presidential campaign in Salt Lake City. 

Pony up $10,000, and you can get a pic with the former Florida governor (and Utah GOP favorite according to a Utah Policy poll) as well as a seat at the luncheon. [Who knew that $2,700 wouldn't buy you a seat at the table?)

Not, though, if members of self-described immigrant and racial justice advocates Utah's Familia have anything to say about it. In fact, what they want is for money intended for the fundraiser to support Bush's campaign instead go to people in Utah who "help migrants who are victims of deportation," according to a press release.

The group has issued a call for both protest and digital media action. 

Utah's Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement is the local arm of a 2014-founded national body "formed by trans and queer immigrants, undocumented and allies, youth leaders and parents," to quote the press release. The national group achieved U.S. media coverage when one of their members interrupted President Barack Obama at a press conference to ask about trans rights. 

In the press release, the local chapter writes, "Utah's Familia is calling on our state's wealthy elite to stop the corruption of our democracy by paying into our community instead." 

Along with having concerns about how "the wealthy 1%" can effectively hold elected leaders accountable to its own agendas through campaign donations, Familia's co-founder Ella Mendoza also takes issues with what the release describes as Bush's "blatant racism," with regard to both ignoring Black Lives Matter and for his use of the term '"anchor babies" to describe children of immigrants." Familia claimed his use of that term "proves his values do not align with a population that plays a big part in Utah's economy and interests."