Donald Trump at Odds With Several Hispanic Advisory Council Members After Hardline Immigration Speech
A growing number of Donald Trump's top Latino surrogates are contemplating withdrawing their support of him after the Republican presidential nominee doubled down on his hard-line immigration stance during a widely anticipated address.
Jacob Monty, a member of Trump's National Hispanic Advisory Council, has already submitted his resignation and fellow board member and Texas pastor Ramiro Pena conceded he is considering following suit, adding he's convinced Trump's Wednesday night speech from Phoenix likely caused him the election and he didn't want to be part of a "scam."
Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles president Alfonso Aguilar added he is "inclined" to pull his support.
"I was a strong supporter of Donald Trump when I believed he was going to address the immigration problem realistically and compassionately," said Monty, a Houston attorney who has aggressively made the Latino case for Trump. "What I heard today was not realistic and not compassionate."
Trump's Deportation Plans
The outspoken Trump left himself little wiggle room on the issue as he unequivocally called for stricter border patrol and outlined a policy were all immigrants in the country illegally are subject to deportation.
In the wake of Trump's most recent fiery declaration, Pena fired off his own missive to Trump and Republican National Committee leaders, asserting "I am so sorry but I believe Mr. Trump lost the election tonight. The 'National Hispanic Advisory Council' seems to be simply for optics and I do not have the time or energy for a scam."
Word is when Trump recently met with many of his Hispanic advisers on the issue at Trump Tower he expressed a willingness to be more compassionate and took on a softer tone as opposed to an earlier hard-line vow where he pledged to deport millions
"When we met [earlier in August] he was going to approach this issue with a realistic plan, a compassionate plan, with a plan that was not disruptive to the immigrants that were here that were not lawbreakers," said Monty. "He didn't deliver any of that."
Aguilar was likewise left feeling dismayed and looking bewildered.
"It's so disappointing because we feel we took a chance, a very risky chance," he said. "We decided to make a big U-turn to see if we could make him change. We thought we were moving in the right direction ... we're disappointed. We feel misled."
Trump Already struggling With Latinos
Even with all the work the likes of Monty and Aguilar put in defending him, Trump was still faring as poorly as any recent republican candidate among Latino voters. That problem only now figures to be exacerbated all the more.
Just hours after Trump had finished his controversial speech, Hillary Clinton and her supporters began running ads in Arizona, a historically republican state but one that has recently come to tout a large number of Hispanic voters.
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