Trump’s rhetoric could backfire
Some in GOP worry immigration proposals may alienate state’s growing Latino population
As President Donald Trump dials up the rhetoric on immigration in the final days before Tuesday’s midterm election, few of the Republican candidates in California’s top battlegrounds are backing away from his hard-edged proposals.
Reps. Duncan Hunter, Dana Rohrabacher and Tom McClintock all have voiced support for moves such as sending thousands of troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and trying to end birthright citizenship. And only one Golden State Republican, Rep. David Valadao, has spoken out at all against Trump’s proposals, according to a Bay Area News
Group survey. Most of the other GOP incumbents in the state’s
10 most competitive races avoided commenting.
Some GOP leaders in California argue, as does Trump, that his proposals will fire up the Republican base and spur voter turnout on Election Day. But others are worried the president’s tactics could spark a backlash in the diverse districts that are in play this year — and have an enduring impact on the party.
“He’s destroying the Republican brand for a generation right now,” said Mike Madrid, a Republican operative in Sacramento and an expert in Latino turnout.
Trump’s immigration moves might win shortterm gains by boosting turnout among his conservative, white supporters, Madrid said, but they also risk provoking his opponents. “He’s ensuring that his last line of defense, the Republican base, is secure. But at the same time, he’s gin-
“He’s destroying the Republican brand for a generation right now.”
— Mike Madrid, a Republican operative in Sacramento and an expert in Latino turnout
ning up anger and fear and energy among Latino voters,” he said.
Most of the competitive congressional districts in California are more than a third Latino, and many have substantial immigrant populations who could be spurred to the polls by Trump’s last-minute messages — including his legally dubious assertion that he is considering ending birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants through an executive order.
Jeanette Vazquez, a sixth-grade teacher who lives in Fullerton and has been volunteering for Democratic congressional hopeful Gil Cisneros in the 39th District, said many of her first-generation American students are terrified by Trump’s rhetoric.
“When someone as powerful as the president makes a comment like that, it’s very real for them,” said Vazquez, whose parents are immigrants from Mexico and who became a citizen herself through birthright citizenship. “How can we focus on learning pre-algebra in a classroom when they’re afraid they’re going to be sent to another country?”
Several GOP officials played down the idea that the immigration issue would hurt their party. Harmeet Dhillon, a Republican National Committee member from San Francisco, argued that Trump’s message appeals to California’s legal immigrants.
“Many immigrant communities are angry that they and their relatives paid the fees, waited in line and followed the rules, when other people just walk across the border, take our resources and flout our laws,” said Dhillon, who came to the U.S. with her family from India as a child. “It’s a disservice to Latino voters to assume that they’re big fans of illegal immigration.”
Trump commands widespread support among California Republican voters, and most Golden State candidates are avoiding a break with his rhetoric.
Some are embracing his message wholeheartedly. Standing on a San Diego bluff overlooking the border fence and sprawling Tijuana neighborhoods on Thursday, Hunter and GOP congressional candidate Diane Harkey — both running in competitive races — echoed the president.
“Right now we have an army of migrants bearing down on the U.S. from multiple third-world countries,” Hunter told reporters, arguing — with no evidence — that the caravan might include members of terrorist organizations. He called on Trump to order the military to start building new detention facilities for undocumented immigrants and said he was “absolutely interested” in Trump’s proposal to end birthright citizenship.
Hunter, who has been indicted for misuse of campaign funds, has campaigned in recent weeks on racially charged messages painting his Democratic Palestinian-American opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, as a “security risk.” Nick Singer, a Campa-Najjar spokesman, called Hunter’s news conference a “political stunt to shift the focus away from his indictment.”
In Orange County, Rohrabacher also voiced support for Trump’s immigration proposals, saying in a statement that he backed ending birthright citizenship and thought the administration should halt the caravan “with non-lethal means if they attempt to storm across our border.” The congressman “has seen the video of the caravan, which appears to be comprised of mostly young men, assaulting border guards and vandalizing barriers in other countries,” a spokesman said. “Clearly, we should not allow that here.”
And in the state’s northeast, McClintock backed ending birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants, saying in a statement that he believes “the President may have authority by executive order” to do so. He also said Trump was “fully justified” in sending troops to the border.
Other Republicans are speaking out in opposition to Trump’s immigration claims, at least gingerly. Valadao, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Portugal’s Azores islands to the Central Valley, voiced support for birthright citizenship in a statement.
“The Fourteenth Amendment clearly states that ‘All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,’ ” he said. “I believe it is important to uphold the will of our nation’s Founding Fathers and of the United States’ Constitution.”
Most of the other Republican candidates in competitive California congressional races are just trying to keep their heads down, declining to comment on Trump’s immigration messages or not responding to requests for comment Thursday and Friday. Those include Central Valley Rep. Jeff Denham, who has tried to build his political brand as a moderate on immigration issues, and Orange County candidate Young Kim, an immigrant from South Korea.
Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College who has studied Latino turnout, said Trump’s rhetoric had echoes of the debate over Proposition 187, the measure pushed by former California Gov. Pete Wilson that blocked undocumented immigrants from accessing public education and health care. While voters approved the proposition in 1984, it was later found to be unconstitutional. Many observers believe it damaged the Republican Party’s appeal among Latino communities, helping hasten the party’s steep decline in the state.
“Trump could be doing the same thing to a new generation of Latinos in California,” Michelson said. “If they believe Republicans are the party that’s hostile to immigrants, that considers them invaders, that considers them a threat — that can have a long-lasting effect.”