Thread: Hispanic Caucus denies membership to Republican Curbelo

Rep. Carlos Curbelo represents a Latino-heavy district in Miami that is a top target for Democrats in 2018. | AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File

By HEATHER CAYGLE 11/16/2017 11:32 AM EST Updated 11/16/2017 12:02 PM EST

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Thursday denied Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo’s membership bid, the latest volley in a nasty dispute between the Florida lawmaker and some members of the all-Democratic caucus.

The group voted to oppose Curbelo’s bid to join after weeks of back-and-forth between him and some members of the group who have questioned whether his intentions to join the CHC were politically motivated.

Curbelo represents a Latino-heavy district in Miami that is a top target for Democrats in 2018.

Some CHC members were turned off by Curbelo’s refusal to back the DREAM Act, their bill to grant legal status to young undocumented immigrants who could face deportation as soon as March.

Members also said a private argument between Curbelo and CHC Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), in which he accused her and the caucus of discriminating against him, soured their feelings.

Curbelo has said Democrats are the ones playing politics, refusing to let him into the group because he is a Republican.

In a statement after the decision, group spokesman Carlos Paz Jr. said the CHC "isn’t just an organization for Hispanics; it is a Caucus that represents certain values. This vote reflects the position of many of our members that Rep. Curbelo and his record are not consistent with those values.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/...curbelo-244977

Personally, I think all discriminatory caucuses should be outlawed in the U.S. Congress.