(This is a continuation of a past article I wrote about Hispanics and the GOP. An article will shortly posted in Spanish).
Our conservative values need to live on- I often ask myself, what will be of conservatism in 30 years? I hope we are a party connecting with loyal conservatives but also fighting for minority groups. Adding to the words of Senator Marco Rubio, it is crucial that we figure our future out- we need a new face for our party. Quite simply generations of Americans depend on it.
—In many ways, I am a very rare specimen in the political world. I am a free market, small government, traditionally-principled conservative, and the other half of my family does not come from this country. We have so many similarities with Hispanics: Hispanics believe in protecting the family, getting rid of government corruption, and that hard work is what makes prosperity not entitlement. I consider the Latino community, some of the hardest working and dedicated people in the world. It is time to appeal to this group in an unprecedented way. Mike Mulvaney, a Tea Party conservative from South Carolina, made this statement to a group of supporters: “At some point, we’re going to figure out that if you take the entire African-American community and write them off, you take the entire Hispanic community, and write them off…. What’s left? About 38% of the country. You cannot win with 38% of the country… We need to figure out how to deal with it as a party. We’re losing too many elections, we are writing off too many people.” My conservative friends, no doubt that this party has a bright future, if we start writing people on, and not writing them off. In essence, Mulvaney is echoing the inspiring words made by Winston Churchill, “we shall never surrender.” We need to figure out how we can save our country and we can’t do it alone, especially without the support of minorities. There is a war out there, a war on freedom, democracy, and equality. When the world is seen in darkness, conservatism is what empowers individuals to overcome today’s challenges. Imagine that with passionate and loyal Latino voters, millions defending the hope that America brings. We will be unstoppable. That is the vision I see for the GOP. “We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air…. We shall never surrender…” We need the Latino community more than ever. They will be the new face of the GOP. It can happen; here’s why and how.
My full name is Hunter Avilio Thomas. My mama is Dora Magdalena Salinas Thomas. My abuelos are named Avilio and Mercedes Salinas. They are ALL immigrants to this country. My mother was born and raised in Mexico City. She came here with not a lick of English and a few dollars in her pocket. My grandfather was a poor taxi driver, so she never came to the US with any solid foundation. My mother was never a conservative and always leaned to the left on most issues. Her views changed radically as she began to live the American dream. As she started to become more successful and then later graduate from college, she decided to get a masters in social work. As she continued with her program, her newly conservative roots along with her Latino ones were challenged. The program started to assume that right-leaning and religious groups were hateful. After lots of thought and prayer, she decided to leave the program. Today, my mom is now a hard-working case manager working with clients who are Hispanic, handicapped, and low income. My mom rose from poverty and is devoted to helping others to do the same. I know that there are not only thousands but millions who come from the Latino community that have a similar story like my mother and are willing to do anything to live the American dream. But how did it happen, and how can we continue to educate voters like my mother?
First, let us take a look at some key statistics. The Pew Research Center reports that in 2016 the economy was the most important issue for Latino voters. The most interesting statistic is what issues Latinos were worrying about less- abortion and same-sex marriage. Democrats have an edge over us because they tap into the issues that Hispanics value most. But what really drives them, is not necessarily the number of social programs, it’s their families! The Other Side of Immigration”, (a documentary that focuses on migrant workers) shows that the majority of these workers decided to migrate to the US in order to help their families and would almost always go back to Mexico because they missed them. As a party, we need to put social issues at the forefront of Latino voters. Continued reports showed that 66% of Protestant-Christian Latinos and 68% of active Catholic-Latinos oppose same-sex marriage. With that, 53% of Hispanics are in favor of abortion being illegal, with 70% of Protestant-Latinos and 54% of Catholics claim to be pro-life. What we can conclude is that Hispanics, especially when religious, tend to lean socially conservative. At the end of the day, if you were to ask a Hispanic whether they would be rich and have no family or be poor and have a happy family, they would take the second option. Both parties need to stop treating the Latino community as some ploy in order to gain political points. This is seen on both sides of the aisle as some have called Hispanics “rapists” and “murderers” and also “needy.” If we are referring to the Latino community like that, we are not understanding them. Instead, we need to identify what they feel and embrace them.
Among the hottest issues in the 2016 Election, were immigration and terrorism. In fact, these issues tend to be very important to Hispanics. What we need to do as a party is take immigration reform seriously, but before we do that, we need to secure our borders. The question is why should we do it, and why should all walks of life agree? According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, many Hispanics agree with controlling the influx of illegal immigration. The article states “… among Latino voters born in the United States, resentment of immigrants who have entered the country illegally can run deep. 42% of American-born Hispanics disapprove of President Barack Obama’s executive actions to prevent the deportation of undocumented immigrants.” This issue is a sensitive one, especially when President Trump made unpopular comments, stereotyping the majority of Latinos as criminals. Of course, our conservative values do not align in support of those comments, but if we were to look beyond the rhetoric, there needs to be a push when it comes to protecting our borders. The reason why we need to secure our borders is not necessarily that terrorists are coming in, but because of drug trafficking. Although a documentary, (Beyond the Fence) made the argument that the southern border is not a terrorist hotspot, they cannot refute the claim about drugs coming into the United States. About $19-29 billion dollars are made by Mexican drug cartels a year in the US and since 2006 over 55,000 fatalities have occurred due to the drug war.
At the same time, the documentary does explain that The Secure Act of 2006 signed by President Bush, was a law passed to increase funding in putting more protection on the border. Since then we have spent $3 billion dollars on a border fence and it still has not been completed. Many are claiming that even if we were to build a border wall, people would still find ways to cross over. But, if we look at something a little more recent, 26 countries in Europe adopted a “no border policy” that was passed in 1985 called the Schengen agreement. Anyone from anywhere could move within these countries without any documentation. Since the recent terrorist attacks in France and Spain, Germany and the Netherlands decided to enforce border-regulation policies. It’s not an impossible task when we talk to the Latino community about this issue, we just need to be honest with them. Putting up practical protection where there tend to be drug-related and terrorist activities is not because we want to discriminate, but rather to prepare ourselves. Our main message needs to be is that securing our borders, including airports and seaports, are key to a thriving society. I am confident that Hispanics will not misunderstand our message when it comes to this issue.
The next question posed is, let’s say more protection is put in place, what comes next? What about the millions of illegal immigrants that have been here for years and have intentions to be productive citizens like my mother? It’s time for comprehensive immigration reform. Unfortunately, we don’t have a system in place to monitor who is coming in and why. Along with that, we need to realize that there are hardworking Latinos who are here to provide for their families and we must support them. In fact, just 13% of illegal immigrants in the US are known to have criminal conviction. Recently, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham said he wants to put into place an already devised bipartisan bill in order to reform our broken immigration system. Not only that but, Speaker Paul Ryan said many years ago that his religious beliefs as a Catholic do not co-align with deporting innocent people. Tea Party darling Marco Rubio is in favor of passing an immigration reform bill along with two Republicans who mentioned that they are in favor of giving visas to high-skilled workers. We need not be afraid of this issue of reform, but rather take it with open arms and with a love for our Hispanic friends. An e-verify program to see who’s coming in and who’s not, a number count of visas handed out each year, a way to deport criminals and encourage constant legal immigration, is healthy for our party. It will not be easy, but remember a permanent solution to our immigration reform is crucial to stopping the deportation of hardworking people and also when defending ourselves as a country. As we do so, we will gain overwhelming Latino support.
My main point here is that we need Latino conservatives more than ever. As we shift our focus to common ground such as key social issues, we will be able to make some great traction with Latinos. We need to continue to educate the Hispanic community that conservatives are not against migration. Our policies should also be in alignment with what we are stating. The core of conservatism is to empower the individual and not the government. It is time to appeal to our neighbors in Mexico and in South America. We are a nation of immigrants and we will continue to be one. Let us be a party of freedom and prosperity and embrace that diversity. In the words of Marco Rubio, a GOP Senator from Cuba: “This isn’t just the country where I was born. America’s literally the place that changed my family’s history.” I echo those words that this country literally saved my family’s history and its future for generations to come all due to a courageous Latina mother and newly conservative roots that will be held forever. ¡Que Dios Bendiga a Los Estados Unidos de América!
(After-post note: I want it to be known to the world that the majority of right-leaning voters are not what portrays the media. Unfortunately, there are extremists i.e. white supremacists who make up little of the party that inflict their opinion somehow thinking the majority agrees with that. It is not true, right-leaning voters are common, everyday people that fight for religious freedom, small-government, and free-market policies. We should have respect towards all people no matter if we differ in opinion; we must love all regardless. That is the true message that conservatism needs to push. At the end of the day, we should not be so focused on party pressure but on the God-given rights that we enjoy as Americans).
Citations-
Winston Churchill- https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/winstonchu161337.html
Mike Mulvaney and his comments about Immigration Reform: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/22/us/politics/gop-congressman-in-south-carolina-takes-a-risk-with-a-foray-into-immigration.html?mcubz=0
Frontline Documentary- Immigration Battle: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/immigration-battle/
Issues most important about Latino voters 2016: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/15/the-economy-is-a-top-issue-for-latinos-and-theyre-more-upbeat-about-it/
Social political views by Latino Voters: http://www.pewforum.org/2014/05/07/chapter-9-social-and-political-views/
Documentary: The Other Side of Immigration http://www.theothersideofimmigration.com/
Majority of Illegal Immigrants are not criminals: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/unauthorized-immigrants-criminal-convictions-who-might-be-priority-removal
HBO Documentary: The Fence https://play.hbonow.com/feature/urn:hbo:feature:GVU37Bg45OlFvjSoJAaWY?camp=nowdesksv1
Chicago Tribune article about Hispanics and Trump http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-immigration-hispanics-rubio-bush-trump-1019-20151018-story.html
Schengen Agreement: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13194723
Gang of Eight Immigration Reform Bill: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/immigration-reform-gang-eight-225028
Senator Marco Rubio Comments: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/04/13/full-text-of-marco-rubios-2016-presidential-campaign-announcement/?utm_term=.bfe6345aac29
Drug Trafficking in the US https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/drug-addiction/drug-trafficking-by-the-numbers/#gref
Hunter Avilio Thomas 