The most senior Latina adviser on Joe Biden’s staff has resigned over frustration with the campaign.
Vanessa Cardenas had served as the campaign’s national coalitions director since April 25. She quit the job last week over a perceived lack of input and the way Biden speaks about immigration, according to Politico.
Two friends close with Cardenas said that the Biden campaign was not listening to her guidance while Latino groups continue to express concerns with Biden and his time as vice president under President Barack Obama.
One of the friends, whom Cardenas did not give permission to speak on her behalf, said the Biden campaign is “hyper-focused on whites in Iowa and African Americans” and gives less credence Latino voters.
“Vanessa kept banging her head against the wall trying to get them to take the community more seriously,” the friend said. “And Biden just really won’t change when it comes to the way he talks about immigration. It became too much.”
On Thursday, Biden told an immigration activist who criticized the Obama administration’s record that he should “vote for Trump.” When the activist insisted that he pledge to end all deportations, Biden responded that he would not and would continue to deport illegal immigrants who commit felonies if he is elected.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Biden’s campaign for comment but didn’t immediately receive a response.
[Read more: ‘I’m a student of the Holocaust’: Biden says Trump is stoking ‘same anti-Semitic bile’ as Nazis]
