GOP hopefuls defend stance on immigration in Spanish TV debate

Analysis:

This article is based upon a recent debate between GOP candidates for President on the Spanish language cable station Univision. The article says in the second paragraph “The first Republican presidential forum to be conducted in Spanish took place at a time when opinion polls are showing Hispanic voters moving away from the party,” but there is no information in the story to verify that claim. This is the case in the Grand Rapids Press version of this Washington Post article, but the original version does say “Hispanic voters have shifted their allegiance away from Republicans, according to a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center.” The very next sentence says “Some observers have blamed anti-Hispanic rhetoric within the GOP,” but never cite who the “some” are.

The GR Press version of the article only mentions three of the GOP candidates, Huckabee, Romney and Senator John McCain, but the original article mentions that most of the other GOP candidates were also part of the debate. The GR Press version of the article quotes Huckabee, Romney, and McCain. Do readers have a clearer understanding of their position on immigration based on these quotes? In the case of Senator McCain, the reporter could have investigated his voting record on immigration policy. No where in this article does the reporter provide any information on what the position of Huckabee, Romney, McCain, Giuliani, Paul, and Hunter. Tom Tancredo refused to participate in the debate. His website states the following on his boycott of the debate, “It is the law that to become a naturalized citizen of this country you must have knowledge and understanding of English, including a basic ability to read, write, and speak the language. So what may I ask are our presidential candidates doing participating in a Spanish speaking debate?”

Story:

Contenders for the Republican presidential nomination, who have taken a tough stance on immigration issues affecting many Hispanics, were called upon Sunday night to defend their positions in front of viewers of the nation’s largest Spanish-language television network.

The first Republican presidential forum to be conducted in Spanish took place at a time when opinion polls are showing Hispanic voters moving away from the party. Some observers have blamed anti-Hispanic rhetoric within the GOP, especially comments regarding illegal immigration, for the disaffection.

Accordingly, the first half of the 90-minute forum, broadcast on Univision, focused on immigration-related issues — whether English should be the official language, whether illegal immigrants should be offered a path to citizenship, and what each candidate might do to calm an anti-Hispanic fervor.

The candidates sought to emphasize their enthusiasm for legal immigration as a source of the nation’s vitality, even as they underscored their strong stances against illegal immigration.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee cited such immigration as fanning the flames of anti-Hispanic bias. Calling such attitudes “un-American,” Huckabee added, “Quite frankly, when we fix the situation and make the border secure and people are here legally, a lot of the sentiment goes away.”

At the forum, held at the University of Miami, questions were asked in Spanish, translated for the candidates, who answered in English, and then translated into Spanish for the television audience.

The questions came from Univision news anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas, who tried, with mixed success, to get the candidates to directly answer tough questions.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who earlier this month fired his landscaping company because it had hired undocumented workers, side-stepped a question about whether he reported the violation to immigration authorities.

Romney described the owner of the company as an “old friend” and added, “He did his best, but he made a mistake.” He went on to note that it is difficult for employers to verify immigration status.

Throughout the forum, the candidates repeatedly affirmed their respect for the role of Hispanics in society and highlighted their affiliations, if any, with them.

“We will be enriched by their music, their culture, their food. Hispanics will love this country and defend it,” Sen. John McCain of Arizona said in answer to a question about the future of Hispanics in the nation.

As a group, the candidates characterized Hispanic voters as natural constituents of the Republican Party.

Text from the original article ommitted from the Grand Rapids Press version:

“Hispanic Americans serve in the military. We salute them. Hispanic Americans are entrepreneurs and businesspeople. Hispanic Americans are family-oriented and people of faith,” Romney said.

Hispanic voters “know that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Thompson said.

In the Republican field, McCain stands alone for his support of controversial immigration legislation that would have given illegal workers a pathway to legal residency. The proposal has been derided by other candidates as “amnesty.”

“We have to address this issue with compassion and love because these are human beings,” McCain said. “Of course there can’t be amnesty.”

Noting the role of Hispanic soldiers in Vietnam and Iraq, McCain said, “Some of their parents came here illegally.”

Also taking part in Sunday’s forum were former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado skipped the debate.

In a similar forum for Democratic candidates held here in September, all eight participants supported changes that would allow illegal immigrants now in the country to stay and eventually receive U.S. citizenship. All also criticized anti-immigrant attitudes, and nearly all committed to overhauling immigration laws in their first year in office.

As the Democrats and Republicans have divided over how to deal with the millions of undocumented workers in the United States, Hispanic voters have shifted their allegiance away from Republicans, according to a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center.

About 57 percent of Hispanic registered voters now call themselves Democrats or lean toward the Democrats; 23 percent favor Republicans, according to the study, a 34 percentage point gap. Just last year, the gap was only 21 points, the report said.

Early on in the debate, Ramos and Salinas asked whether the candidates risked alienating conservatives by even appearing on Univision.

“The far greater risk is if we didn’t,” Huckabee said.