Donald Trump, US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Confirm Q&A Session in October
Donald Trump will meet with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for a public "question and answer" session.
Despite the USHCC having concerns about Trump, the organization and Trump agreed to meet on Oct. 8. According to NBC News, USHCC President and CEO Javier Palomarez met with Trump in New York. The USHCC has already acknowledged their differences with Trump and his rhetoric during the campaign trail.
On June 30, the USHCC released a lengthy statement about its disappointment with the "harsh and insensitive" comments Trump made. The organization, which represents 3.2 million Latino business owners, said Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants are "an extreme and exclusionary position that has no basis in fact and is completely inappropriate in our national political discourse."
Palomarez, son of a Mexican immigrant, will likely question Trump about immigration. The USHCC fully recognizes the economic contributions made by immigrants. In a study by the George W. Bush Institute and USHCC, immigrants are starting new businesses at twice the rate compared to U.S.-born citizens, 1-in-5 new small businesses were started by an immigrant, and 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children.
"Donald Trump's statements -- which may be dismissed as the rantings of a fringe candidate -- certainly do not reflect the leadership qualities needed in 2016 and beyond, and are unwelcome in today's political conversation," said Palomarez in June. "Mr. Trump should be well-aware of the critical role foreign-born workers play in the success of his enterprises."
Palomarez, on behalf of the USHCC, commended anyone who denounced Trump's rhetoric. The USHCC previously announced it will not associate itself with Trump hotels for future sites of its conferences, and supported Univision and Comcast NBCUniversal for ceasing business agreements with the businessman.
Following the agreement for October's event, the USHCC issued a statement, via NBC News: "At the USHCC, we believe it is important to confront issues head on. When it comes to immigration, we've repeatedly found ourselves in disagreement with Mr. Trump. His advisers stressed, however, that our disagreement was based on the media's mischaracterization of his stances. We wanted to hear Mr. Trump clearly articulate his views, away from the public spectacle, the media, and the debate floor."
Trump has been under the spotlight, especially within the Latino and immigrant community, for proposals such as mass deportations of the 11.3 million undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S., the end of birthright citizenship, defense of the term "anchor babies," and most recently his interaction with journalist Jorge Ramos.
Trump's October event will mirror previous meeting USHCC conducted with other presidential candidates, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Fellow Republic presidential candidate Jeb Bush will also meet with the USHCC this month in Houston.
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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Politics Editor Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.