August 25, 2016 (New York, NY) – Hispanic Federation has issued the following statement in response to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s recent statements in regards to his immigration policies.
“After months of misleading, unfounded, and demeaning assertions about the millions of immigrants living in the United States, Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested this week that he was willing to “soften” his position on what he would do with our nation's undocumented immigrant community. It’s unclear what Mr. Trump meant by his comments. The little we can discern about his so-called shift in thinking is that he refuses to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and that he will insist that they pay “back taxes.” And, yes, that he still plans on building "a great, great big wall" along the U.S./Mexico border. After building a presidential campaign predicated on attacking our undocumented immigrant families, this supposed “softening” is anything but. Mr. Trump’s words indicate a continued hostility to immigrants and a fundamental failure to understand the need for a broad and just immigration reform plan. It’s time for Mr. Trump to offer the American people a serious, workable plan to fix our immigration system that includes, among other things, respect for due process, a path to citizenship for our hardworking undocumented immigrants and a focus on family reunification. As the standard-bearer of his party, Mr. Trump must offer American voters more detailed policy proposals, and less theatrics.”
