A liberal Hispanic group founded by Democrats and a labor activist who is an honorary chair of Democratic Socialists of America have launched campaigns to dissuade Hispanic voters from supporting either of the two Hispanic candidates for the Republican nomination — Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
The Washington Post reported that ads being run by these Hispanic activists attempt to portray the two candidates as being equivalents to Donald Trump, the most outspoken candidate on the subject of illegal immigration, who has said he will deport every illegal immigrant in America and “build a great, great wall on our southern border and I will have Mexico pay for that wall.”
Among the liberal Hispanic activists engaged in the anti-Cruz and -Rubio campaigns is Cristóbal Alex, president of the Latino Victory Project (LVP). In May 2014, shortly after the LVP was launched by Henry R. Munoz III (the finance chair for the Democratic National Committee), actress Eva Longoria, and Representative Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), the group’s claim to be “bipartisan” was called into question by Izzy Santa, the Republican National Committee’s Hispanic communications director. Santa told Fox News Latino last year:
They have to be honest if they are a bipartisan group or a Democrat front group. People don’t like wannabes. This is no embellishment. You can’t go to a press conference and say you are a bipartisan group and will support candidates from both sides of the isle when your leadership is all Democrats.
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The Post quoted a statement from LVP’s Alex: “It’s not comfortable for us to do this, to call out members of our own community [Cruz and Rubio] who don’t reflect our community values, but we have no choice.”
A number of Democratic Hispanic leaders gathered in Nevada on December 14, ahead of Tuesday night’s Republican debate in Las Vegas, and displayed photos of Cruz and Rubio next to Trump’s picture, portraying all three as being anti-Latino. A press release issued at the gathering stated: “While Trump continues to grab headlines with his hateful anti-Latino, anti-immigrant language, the positions and records of the two Latino presidential candidates in the race are equally dangerous for Nevada communities.”
While Alex may be a mouthpiece for what the RNC calls “a Democrat front group,” Dolores Huerta, another Hispanic activist quoted by the Post (which described her as “an influential labor leader and civil rights activist”), has a long history as a radical Leftist community organizer and socialist.
Huerta, reported the Post, called Cruz and Rubio “sellouts” and “traitors” at the December 14 Nevada gathering and said the Hispanic candidates “are turning their backs on the Latino community.”
Huerta’s complete background is seldom mentioned by the mass media, however, especially since President Obama conferred heroine status on her by awarding her with the U.S. government’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, back in 2012. It was the same sort of historic revisionism used to whitewash the radical background of César Chávez, with whom Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFA) in 1962. (The NFA later became the United Farm Workers — the UFW.)
Huerta, noted The New American in a 2012 article, is a “self-described ‘born-again feminist” and has drawn fire for working with and praising the late socialist Venezuelan tyrant Hugo Chávez, who was famous for jailing critics and political opponents, stealing property, waging war on press freedom, rigging elections, and establishing collective farms. Referring to Chávez’s actions, Huerta has asked, “why can’t we do that here in the United States?”
(For background on the radical history of César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, and United Farm Workers, read “Obama’s Tribute to Radical Labor Leader César Chávez.”)
Because the liberal/Left/socialist activists have decided to launch a campaign against both Cruz and Rubio, does not mean that both candidates have identical positions in favor of strict enforcement of U.S. immigration law, however. A summary of Cruz’s stand on immigration in The New American’s print edition for November 23 quoted the Texas senator’s reply to a question raised during an August interview with Shark-Tank.com, asking if he supported some type of path to citizenship (amnesty) for illegal immigrants. Cruz replied: “There should be no pathway to citizenship for those who are here illegally. I don’t support amnesty.” In his position as a senator, Cruz has consistently opposed amnesty or any pathway to citizenship, and fought vigorously against the 2013 “Gang of Eight” bipartisan immigration bill that included such a path. It must be remembered that Senator Rubio was one of the “Gang of Eight” who drafted that bill.
On August 6, 2015, CNBC’s John Harwood asked Senator Rubio if he still supported the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, which passed the Senate on June 27, 2013, but was never acted on by the House because of criticism from conservative House members who found its inclusion of amnesty to be unacceptable. Rubio’s answer: “No, because we can’t pass it.”
It is significant that Senator Rubio did not say he objected to the legislation because of its content — only because it was not politically viable. If he were to be elected president, Rubio might well attempt to pass his “Gang of Eight” bill if the makeup of Congress changes sufficiently to make passage possible.
Another Latino group, the American Principles Project’s Latino Partnership, states that its mission is to “engage the Latino community on conservative causes and garner greater Latino support for our issues and conservative candidates.” While the Latino Partnership has been critical of the Obama administration’s almost totally unrestrictive immigration polices, it has also favored the same sort of “path to citizenship” amnesty found in the rejected “Gang of Eight” bill.
A New York Times report in September quoted Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership, as saying: “I think it’s healthy for a democracy [sic] for people to become citizens. Sadly, I think the administration went overboard. A full-fledged campaign from the White House telling people to become a citizen, I think it is politicizing the naturalization process.”
In case there was any doubt about whether Aguilar’s statement was an expression of support for a “path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants, the Post’s report about the Hispanic Left’s attack on Cruz and Rubio noted that Aguilar was also critical of Cruz.
The Post reported that such criticism followed a meeting between the “conservative” Hispanic group’s members and Cruz, after which participants concluded that the Texas senator espoused same the position expressed by Mitt Romney in 2012 that illegal immigrants should “self-deport.”
“Very troubling,” said Aguilar. “[Cruz is] saying that he doesn’t even support any type of legalization later on.” Aguilar described Cruz’s position as “either self-deport or they will be forcefully removed.”
While Rubio’s immigration position may not be liberal enough to satisfy the radical Left, Cruz’s position is apparently not liberal enough to satisfy the supposedly conservative Latino Partnership. That signifies substantial differences between the two candidates on immigration.
It also indicates that every organization that describes itself as “conservative” is not necessarily what it purports to be.
Photos of Sens. Ted Cruz (left) and Marco Rubio (right): AP Images
Related articles:
Obama Honors Top Socialist Dolores Huerta with Medal of Freedom
Obama’s Tribute to Radical Labor Leader César Chávez.
