Dallas Morning News (Opinion-Texas):
By Mercedes Olivera
August 7, 2015
The GOP debate among 10 contenders Thursday evening was predictable to many Latinos, both Republicans and Democrats.
What
few saw coming, though, was how well U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida
would do, and how disappointed many would be with former Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush.
Most of the talk came down to this: Secure the border. Build a wall. Keep them out.
None of the talk came down to this: specifics.
Melissa Salas Blair, a Fort Worth Latina conservative activist, said the secure-the-border mantra simply doesn’t work.
“What
exactly does that mean?” she asked in a Facebook message. “That you
won’t work on immigration reform even piecemeal until you can
scientifically prove not ONE person
got through our border ‘illegally’? I mean, is that their angle?”
Victor
Medina, a Texas leader of a Latino GOP group, also was disappointed at
the negative rhetoric about unauthorized immigrants during the debate.
“I
was mostly disappointed with those who chose to buy into the xenophobia
that all immigrants are violent criminals,” he said, also in a Facebook
message.
He
said he was especially pleased with Rubio, who endorsed border security
but made a point that none of the other candidates did — many
immigrants encounter serious problems
with red tape and bureaucracy when they try to “do it legally.”
“He
is pushing the point that many of these immigrants come illegally
because they have no other option,” Medina said. “That is something
Republicans should get behind.”
Medina
was also glad to see Bush stick to his principles not to bash
immigrants. Instead, Bush talked about giving unauthorized immigrants
“earned legal status” — a term
now being used to rebrand the “path to citizenship” that conservatives
find unacceptable.
On
the other hand, Michael Lugo, a Dallas technology and marketing
consultant, found Bush’s term unacceptable. He said Bush was
backpedaling from the tone he took last
week in a Telemundo interview.
“That
is not the same Jeb Bush I cheered for last week,” he said. “Maybe he
should stick to speaking Spanish. At least then, he communicates with a
more appropriate tone
and promotes more rational solutions to immigration.”
Patti
Solis Doyle, who was Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign manager in
2008, said most Americans would see Bush’s rhetoric as pandering to the
GOP base. And that,
ultimately, will hurt him with Hispanics.
“He’s
risking his own beliefs,” Solis Doyle said. “He’s not authentic. What’s
really sad about it is he’s married to a Mexican woman.”
That
will be seen by Latino voters as a lack of a key family value —
loyalty. If they want to win the votes of what is projected to be the
majority of the Texas population,
possibly within the next decade, Republicans will have to shift their
rhetoric.
Rebecca
Acuña, executive director of the Latino Center for Leadership
Development, said Latino voters are always watching and hoping
candidates speak directly to them.
But
most of the candidates in Thursday’s GOP debate either ignored the vast
majority of the 55 million Latinos in this country who are U.S.
citizens or demonized Latino
immigrants.
“They’re
just talking about this horrible image,” she said. “The depiction of
the Latino community is not real. And we want to hear someone who
understands us and our
families.”
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