Thread: Hispanics eager to punish Trump, GOP over border wall, immigration rhetoric

Demonstrators yell at police officers in protest of a visit by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Eugene, Oregon, on May 6. (Associated Press)

By Stephen Dinan and Seth McLaughlin - The Washington Times - Sunday, May 8, 2016

Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign promising to build a border wall to stop illegal immigrants — and Hispanic rights advocates say Republicans will now reap the pain of having him as their party's nominee.

America's Voice, a leading immigration advocacy group, said Republicans are facing "a moment of truth." Other organizations predicted that Hispanic voters will be eager to punish Mr. Trump for his rhetoric and the party as a whole for nominating him.

"The Republican Party is about to run into a force more powerful than their hatred — the power of the love of families and communities standing together," said Kica Matos, director of immigrant rights at the Center for Community Change.

On the other side are Hispanic Republican leaders who fear exactly what has come to pass. They say Mr. Trump has a lot of work to do even to get Hispanics in his own party to back him up.

"I cannot support him, I cannot campaign for him, I cannot vote for him," Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, told The Washington Times.

"Having said that, I am taking a pause and just seeing how this evolves, and considering all the things that the country is facing, all the things that are at stake in this election I am willing to see if Mr. Trump evolves on a number of issues. I hope that he revises his views on immigration and if that is the case I would be willing to consider reconsidering my position," he said.

Hispanics are one of the fastest-growing demographics in the American electorate, and Republican nominees have lost a share of that vote in the past two presidential elections, from about 40 percent in 2004 to 31 percent in 2008 and 27 percent in 2012.

Polling shows Mr. Trump poised to win even less than that this year — though he insists Hispanic voters will respond to his message.

"I love Hispanics," he said in a widely noted Twitter post Thursday. He showed he was celebrating the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo by posting a photo of a taco bowl from Trump Tower.

The biggest question is how many Hispanics will turn out and whether they will outmatch the working-class white voters Mr. Trump is expected to energize with his calls to strike better trade deals and to stop foreign competition for jobs.

Hispanic and immigrant rights groups have been urging immigrants who have been in the country long enough to be eligible for citizenship to finish the process and register to vote.

"Sitting out is not an option for our community, ever," said Maria Teresa Kumar, president of VL Action. "American Latinos have been listening closely to Republican nominee Donald Trump and his hateful rhetoric against immigrants, Latinos, Muslims and women. And we're preparing for November."

So far, however, the numbers don't show a major spike in registrations. Indeed, from October through January — the most recent numbers available — slightly more than 213,000 people took the oath of citizenship. During the same months in 2011 and 2012, some 223,000 took the oath.

This was supposed to be the year Republicans made inroads with Hispanics. The party's 2012 postmortem specifically identified a strict immigration policy as a reason for Mitt Romney's loss of the presidency and urged Republican lawmakers to soften their stances and their rhetoric.

Massey Villarreal, a former chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, said party leaders in Washington made a good effort to follow through. He specifically praised the Republican National Committee's outreach.

But Mr. Trump went the other way by calling for a wall on the border with Mexico and saying the country was sending rapists and drug dealers to the U.S. Other candidates tacked toward him, including Sen. Ted Cruz, who eventually became Mr. Trump's chief opponent.

Now, with Mr. Trump as the presumptive nominee, the Republicans who warned against him are grappling with the fallout. There is little sign of a rush to unity.

"Donald Trump needs us; we don't need him. Unless he is willing to be part of this fabric, we won't be part of his deal," Mr. Villarreal said.

Mr. Trump has not softened his stance during the campaign, and it could even be argued that he doubled down by proposing a deportation force to speed the ouster of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

He has said he would quickly try to readmit many of those he has deported.

Still to be seen is whether Mr. Trump's comments draw a surge of Hispanics to the polls to register their disapproval.

Immigrant rights groups are determined to make that happen.

"Donald Trump is not a clown to be dismissed; he's a threat to be defeated," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice. "This is a moment of truth for Latino, Asian-American and immigrant voters. Comprising the fast-growing segments of the American electorate, many have been scapegoated and demonized by Trump's dark vision for America. The November elections will be a referendum on Trump's 'us' versus 'them' bigotry, and no one can afford to sit this one out. The priority of registering, mobilizing and turning out the vote must match the urgency of the threat posed by Trump."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...anic-backlash/

The GOP better go after disaffected Bernie supporters for the US SENATE RACES, TOO! Or else, as they often do, they will grab defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Why would American Hispanics, US citizens eligible to vote in US elections, want to punish Donald Trump for building the wall on the southern border and wanting to stop illegal immigration?!!!

I don't believe these "leaders" of the Hispanic organizations are representing US citizens. There's no reason at all for American Hispanics to feel any differently about illegal immigration than any other American. In fact, American Hispanics are often impacted the first and worst by illegal immigration, it's their jobs, wages and hours that are adversely impacted like every other American's, it's their taxes and share of the federal debt paying for the costs of illegal immigration that are adversely impacted like every other American, it's their communities and families who fall victim to foreign drug cartels, gangs, crime and violence like every other American.

This Hispanic reaction to punish Donald Trump for his plans to build the wall and stop illegal immigration doesn't make sense. nI fact it sounds like the same pro-immigration advocacy we see so often when the constituents are illegal aliens, not US citizens, advocacy orgies like National Council of La Raza.

I'm shocked that Hispanic Republicans would feel this way, and frankly, I don't believe it. There may be some "leaders" of some of these "Hispanic" organizations who feel that way, but that's because they've got a PayPal of some sort on the other side of the border.

I don't believe these "leaders" speak for Americans of Hispanic descent. I mean think about it. I'm American of English and Irish descent. I would never support illegal immigration, invasion, crime or any other insult or attack from England or Ireland because I'm of English/Irish descent, any more than the tens of millions of Americans who are of German descent would allow such from Germany.

This posturing by Hispanic "leaders" against Trump to try to perpetuate a problem as vile and harmful to the United States as illegal immigration has proven itself to be simply because many of the illegal aliens are Hispanic makes no sense at all.

I understand that. That's why I believe they're going to support Donald Trump in huge numbers to stop this outrageous illegal immigration and these so-called "leaders" in many of these organizations who want to stop Trump are selling them out. These new people causing all the problems aren't US citizens, they're illegal aliens taking over. It's why when Trump described them as committing crime, rapists, and selling drugs, he was right. I believe the vast majority of American Hispanics are going to vote for Trump and help US fix this problem. They may not want to talk about it, and I surely do understand why they might not in certain neighborhoods.

Judy a lot of Americans of Hispanic descent will not speak openly about their feelings. This new generation of Hispanics are not like the Hispanics I grew up with in California. The only thing we used to argue about was whether Pancho Villa was a bandit or a hero.

American Hispanics are terrorized in school by Mexicans for being too white or for not speaking Spanish. They learn early to keep their mouth shut. Why do you think these activists are now referring to the Hispanic Community. They are using this tactic to force American Hispanics to make a choice. If you are not in their community, then you are the enemy.

I have seen the older generation of Hispanics cry over what this new generation is doing. They remember what it was like before. How we shared our cultures and were friends.

I understand Sherry. I've posted for years that the first line victims of illegal immigration are American Hispanics, because the illegal aliens land in their neighborhoods, many are bad relatives or bad friends of friends or relatives moving in on them, eating their food, taking over their homes, terrorizing and raping their children, demanding money, and jobs, running drugs, gangs, criminal activity out of the homes of American Hispanics, helpless to defend themselves or even tell anyone in authority what is happening to them. It's a very dangerous situation for them. They've been totally ignored, left-out, abandoned by these so-called Hispanic organizations who are actually the ones leading the charge in favor of illegal immigration, perpetuating the terror for our own people of Hispanic descent, our fellow citizens. It's an outrage.

US immigration law protects everyone, that's why we have it, and that's why we're obligated to enforce it. It protects all citizens, every race, every nationality, every ethnicity, every descent.

What illegal immigration does to the American Hispanic community is an outrage and heart-breaking. It's why we have laws against it and why they must be enforced. It's why it drives me crazy listening to these stupid politicians ranting on about the "Hispanic vote" or the "Latino vote" when they have no idea what they're talking about, let alone who they're talking about. When we here talk about the "Hispanic vote" or the "Latino vote", we're talking about American citizens of Hispanic or Latino descent who like all of US want the same things. Secure borders, immigration controls, our laws enforced, our jobs back, our wages up, and a government run efficiently and prudently providing the basic functions it was created to deliver. Yet when politicians talk about the "Hispanic vote" or the "Latino vote", they're talking about not enforcing US immigration law in order to get Hispanic votes. Why would that get them Hispanic votes? Hispanics are as fed up with illegal immigration if not more so than any voter.

We're still friends, we're fellow citizens, they are as important to our country as anyone here. They are with US because they are US. That's why I think these stupid politicians and dishonest media are totally missing the boat. Trump needs to do what he's doing and get out there and tell it like it is and American Hispanics will vote for him the same as any American who wants to fix our country and bring an end to illegal immigration, excess legal immigration and these disastrous bad trade deals.

I'm looking forward to his rallies in California. I think that will help a lot of American Hispanics to see him and hear him if they'll take an interest in doing so. Many are registered Democrats so I don't know how many will step out to attend his rallies, so he may need to find better ways to reach them and get his message to them, but so far, the best way is through his big rallies. He might need sports stadium size for the general election. One of the problems has been finding venues large enough to handle everyone who wants to attend the rally.

Do you think American Hispanics in California will come to his rallies or will they be afraid of the illegal alien protesters who might know or recognize them? I've been thinking about that and his California rallies.

I don't care how long your in our country that you call your self a citizen( your not you did not come the right way . & trump is not a clown . he want our country back . yes the USA back . it our country
not no other country .we don't go over to you country & say what we want . no but sure inhell you do . trump saw for year's what was going on & he did not like what he saw. as he told ,michael Savage ,what he was going to do & I like that .as trump said our country is in a mess & it is
every thing trump said about mexico it true & you all don't like that well it too bad we don't have jobs we have lady & guy's & our vets on the street . do you or our gov or Obama care no way in hell . but you all kick trump down why .he tell you like it is
you are all afraid trump you sure in hell should be . he will do what he think is best for our country & if you don't like that go back home a for( berine) he should go & play card 's with the guy
he not fit to be in the wh . as for Hillary . not after she kill our 4 guy not way in hell
trump good luck & get our wall up fast
we have more coming over I don't know we have no more room . maybe Obama will have room when he go out

Originally Posted by MontereySherry

Judy a lot of Americans of Hispanic descent will not speak openly about their feelings. This new generation of Hispanics are not like the Hispanics I grew up with in California. The only thing we used to argue about was whether Pancho Villa was a bandit or a hero.

American Hispanics are terrorized in school by Mexicans for being too white or for not speaking Spanish. They learn early to keep their mouth shut. Why do you think these activists are now referring to the Hispanic Community. They are using this tactic to force American Hispanics to make a choice. If you are not in their community, then you are the enemy.

I have seen the older generation of Hispanics cry over what this new generation is doing. They remember what it was like before. How we shared our cultures and were friends.

It was the same for me growing up in New Mexico.