CLEVELAND — The Republican National Committee’s pitch to Hispanics attending the GOP convention appeared to contradict the GOP nominee’s own position and tone on immigration.
RNC Co-chair Sharon Day told the Latino Coalition that she thought Donald Trump would seek to hasten legal immigration into the United States. But Trump’s website said he supports, “immigration moderation,” including a “pause” that will force employers to hire native workers and unemployed immigrants before foreign workers are admitted into the U.S.
Day, however, argued for speeding the legalization process so that the U.S. can “get great people into this country legally.”
“I think we’ll see it with Donald Trump when he’s president — the forward-working way of immigration, how do you make it faster, how do you make it better, how do you make it smarter,” Day told the crowd.
She continued, “We open our arms, and I can’t say it as eloquent [as] Marco Rubio may have said it, but you know what? We welcome legal immigration with wide gates and wide-open arms, but again there is a Rule of Law in the country. There is an opportunity for everyone to come in this country legally and we welcome all to do that.”
The RNC’s message on immigration did not fully eliminate the concerns of the Latino crowd. Mario Lopez, president of the Hispanic Leadership Fund that promotes limited government, told the Washington Examiner his organization is hopeful that Trump will “see the light” before November.
“He either wants a talking point the way the Democrats do, or he wants to actually solve the problem,” Lopez said about Trump’s position on immigration. “But a wall, no matter how high, no matter how thick, no matter how deep it goes, won’t solve the problem of illegal immigration. The only thing that’ll solve it is fixing and streamlining the process for legal immigration.”
Lopez, who’s organization has focused its resources on campaigns in states such as Florida, Colorado and Nevada, also expressed anxiety about Trump’s talk on trade and the likelihood that Trump may renege from the principles of free trade. If Trump doesn’t make changes now, Lopez warned, he’s headed for defeat in the fall.
Several Trump voters in attendance at the Latino Coalition event appeared tepid about supporting the GOP nominee. Grace Germany, a first-generation American who formerly supported Ted Cruz, sported a “Make America Great Again” hat but noted that, “I was reluctant at first.”
“I learned to like a lot of what he says, I like his family, and I think he’s the kind of man who makes things happen,” Germany said. “He seems to make things happen. He’s a do-er not just a talker.”
Germany said she supported Trump only after every other Republican exited the 2016 race, but appeared to have fully boarded the Trump train. Her sentiment was echoed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a top Trump surrogate, who headlined the Latino Coalition’s event.
Christie refused to make the “hard political sell” of making Trump appear attractive to Latinos on Wednesday. Like Germany, Christie sought to make clear he supported Trump once Trump’s nomination looked imminent.
“I’ll be honest with you today, Donald Trump was not my first choice for president — I was,” Christie said. “But I want you to all understand that I made the choice to support Donald Trump not only because he’s been my friend for 14 years, but because I actually was completely confident he was going to be the Republican nominee for president, and last night he became the Republican nominee for president.”
Christie framed the general election as a binary choice and not some “political science experiment.”
As the RNC looks to earn Hispanic voters’ support in November, it may tailor its message so that it does not appear to cast Trump as the best bad option available.
Day’s remarks about the years-long effort of the RNC to engage Hispanic voters revealed a candid assessment of its task going forward.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do at the Republican National Committee,” she told the crowd.
