IJReview
By Maegan Vazquez
October 8, 2015
Congressman
Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas, had some choice words Monday on
the environment of the 2016 presidential election.
At a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Conference, he told the crowd:
“I believe that 2016 is the nation’s Pete Wilson moment.”
Who
and what was Castro referring to? California Governor Pete Wilson (R),
who ran for reelection in 1994, had a campaign with a major
anti-immigration platform. He was
one of the most vocal supporters of California’s Proposition 187, which
would prohibit unauthorized immigrants from using California’s public
services, including public education.
Wilson used ads like these to gain the crucial voting bloc that wanted more border security and tougher immigration laws:
However,
after Wilson left office, California’s demographics shifted left,
facilitating a less hostile environment for unauthorized immigrants.
At the CHCI conference, Castro didn’t mince words when it came to Donald Trump:
“The
leading frontrunner for the Republican party called Mexican immigrants
‘rapists’ and ‘murderers’. And said ‘well, by the way, I assume some of
them are good people.’
Some
of them are good people?!? If you’re like me when you heard him say
that you probably wondered, wait a minute, where does my grandmother fit
in?”
Castro
suggested that Trump invoked hate crimes and ethnicity based-assaults,
like one in Boston, where a Latino homeless man was beaten up. The
congressman said this
was their reasoning:
“They said ‘because Trump is right. We should kick these people out of here.'”
He
also cited an incident in San Diego, where Christian Ramirez, Human
Rights Director for Alliance San Diego, and his infant son were met by a
group of men who told him
to “go back to Mexico and take your anchor baby with you.” The story,
which originated on social media, was confirmed by IJ.com.
Castro
noted that these people weren’t harassed because of their legal
statuses. Rather, he said these incidents occurred because of the color
of their skin:
“So
for those who think these words only affect immigrants, I would submit
to you that they create a culture of fear and resentment and anger that
is dangerous to all
Americans and especially to Latinos.”
This
isn’t the first time Castro has been vocal about his opposition to
Trump. When Trump visited the border of Texas and Mexico in Laredo, the
congressman called out
Laredo’s mayor Pete Saenz:
President Barack Obama and other members of the cabinet are scheduled to appear at CHCI’s policy conference throughout the week.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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