New York Times
By Ana Marie Cox
March 2, 2016
Donald
Trump once had you physically removed from a news conference for
asking questions about his proposed immigration policies. Now he’s the
front-runner
for the Republican nomination. The only other time that has happened to
me was with Fidel Castro in Guadalajara, Mexico.
As
a member of the Spanish-speaking media, do you blame the mainstream
media for Trump’s rise? I hoped he would have been asked harder
questions. How is he
going to deport 11 million people in two years? That would require more
than 30 jumbo-jet flights every day. How is he going to build a
1,900-mile wall? It will cost at least $20 billion. I spoke with former
President Vicente Fox, and he clearly told me: ‘‘Mexico
is not going to pay for that wall.’’
I
think white voters can’t really imagine what it’s like to be the target
of the sort of language that Trump uses when talking about illegal
immigrants. Do
Latino voters feel it more personally? Yes. President Obama has
deported more than two million undocumented immigrants in seven years,
more than any other U.S. president. Trump is talking about deporting 11
million. Ted Cruz said he wants to deport 12 million.
For us, immigration is not something abstract. It is personal. Very,
very personal.
How
strong is the voting bloc? Do you think there’s really a Latino
firewall that could prevent a Trump presidency? Absolutely. Trump seems
to think he can
win the White House with only the white vote. I believe that the only
way to win the White House is with the Latino vote. If the Republican
candidate cannot get 33 percent of it, he cannot win the White House.
Do
you think a Trump nomination could be energizing, in a way, to Latino
voters? Young Latinos have been telling me that they want to register to
vote because
of Donald Trump. Not because they want to vote for him, but because
they want to vote against him.
What
about the 16 percent of Latino voters who support Donald Trump? Who do
you think they are? I think these are Latinos who at some point in their
lives
decided to turn their backs on other immigrants. There used to be a
tradition within the Hispanic community that regardless of your
political party, you would support undocumented immigrants. That ended
with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
Rubio
and Cruz’s families came from Cuba, whereas the bulk of illegal
immigrants who are here are from Mexico and Central America. Do you
think their heritage
has anything to do with their politics? What I’ll say is that
Cuban-Americans don’t have to deal with the same immigration issues as
other nationalities because of the ‘‘wet feet, dry feet’’ policy. For
Cubans, one year after you touch United States territory,
you can become a legal resident.
Last
year, you disclosed that your daughter, Paola, is working for Hillary
Clinton’s communications team. You said you will ‘‘continue to report
with complete
independence.’’ Do you think you’re succeeding? I disclose the
relationship every time I talk to Clinton, and I think I ask tough
questions. Paola and I decided that there are certain issues that we are
not going to talk about until the election is over.
You
write about your disillusionment with the Catholic Church in your book
‘‘Take a Stand.’’ What do you think of Pope Francis’ efforts to make the
church
more accessible and personal? I don’t know. In Cuba, he called Raúl
Castro — who’s a dictator — the president. He refused to meet with
dissidents there. He refused to meet with victims of sexual abuse in
Mexico. He refused to talk to the families of the 43
students who disappeared in Ayotzinapa. It was a different pope from
the one we saw here in the United States. When he goes to Latin America,
he becomes shy and lacks the courage to criticize those in power.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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