California Latino Republicans see Prop. 187's ghost in Trump's campaign
The businessman’s campaign, staked on a hard-line approach and incendiary rhetoric about illegal immigration, threatened to unravel the progress they’ve made to repair a schism created by a 1994 ballot measure that sought to deny taxpayer-funded services to those in the country illegally.
The state GOP lost a generation of Latino voters in the aftermath of that ballot measure, Proposition 187. And now Latino Republicans fear they will lose yet another generation as a result of Trump becoming the standard-bearer of their party.
“I am concerned, and I’m saddened, and I’m bewildered,” said Luis Alvarado, a GOP media strategist who, like many other Latino officials in California, said he will not vote for Trump. “We had fought for every inch in changing the minds and hearts of not just fellow Latinos, but also fellow Republicans in understanding how we need to work together. And Trump comes along and everything just gets pushed aside.”
http://www.trbimg.com/img-574b864e/turbine/la-na-g-pol-latino-republicans-20160529/550/550x309
In California, there are 4.1 million registered Latino voters, with 55% registered as Democrats, 16% Republican and 25% having no party preference.
Trump insists that Latinos “love” him, but polling does not bear that out. A Fox News poll in May found Latino voters favored Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton over Trump 62% to 23%.
Many have had a visceral reaction to Trump's proposals that include deporting 11 million people and building an enormous border wall. Protests greet Trump whenever he holds rallies in California.
When former Downey Mayor Mario Guerra was wrongly listed as a Trump delegate, the Republican received many angry emails and phone calls from his constituents, accusing him of being disloyal to his ethnicity.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-latino-republicans-20160530-snap-story.html
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