Hispanic Caucus Chair: Republicans ‘Trot Out’ One or Two Examples of Diversity

PHILADELPHIA – Rep. Linda Sanchez (R-Calif.), chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said the Democratic Party has more diversity of representation than the Republican Party, which likes to “trot out” one or two examples.

Sanchez addressed a Poder PAC event during the Democratic National Convention.

“The Poder PAC event is about trying to empower our communities by electing more Latina women to office at all levels but especially at the federal level. In contrast to the Republican Party, who wants to attack our community and blame immigrants for problems they perceive our country can’t overcome,” she said during an interview after the event.

“The Democratic Party understands we are better when we are talking to one another and when we are working together. Instead of vilifying our community they are about recognizing our contributions and about making our country stronger,” she added.

The first female Hispanic governor in America, Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico, is a Republican. Despite this, Sanchez said there is more diversity within the Democratic Party’s leadership.

“You will see the one or two on their side of the aisle, but if you look at the Democratic Party we have far more representation in terms of Latina members of Congress, in terms of Latinas that are running for U.S. Senate seats. You see much more representation of all communities within the Democratic caucus than just one or two that the Republicans like to trot out as examples of their diversity,” she said.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has argued that undocumented immigrants who broke the law when crossing the border into the U.S. and living illegally should ultimately be sent back to their home countries.

“Unfortunately, the problem with our immigration system goes much deeper than that. We have a broken immigration system that isn’t meant for the realities of today,” Sanchez said in response to Trump.

“Many families have mixed status – contribute to our economy – they want to stay together and our country has always been a country of immigrants. If we could reform our immigration system as Democrats have been advocating to do, create that path of legalization and bring people out of the shadows, then you wouldn’t have some of these issues that Donald Trump loves to use to divide us,” she added.

Sanchez also said the “message that somehow immigrants take from this country is contrary to all the facts, which suggest that we contribute far more than what we take from this country.”