The following is the statement from Democratic Party of Wisconsin Latino Caucus Chair Vanessa L. Llanas on the endorsement by Senator Marco Rubio of Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary.
“Both Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney have aligned themselves with the far-right Tea Party. In their race to the right, they’ve shown they will say anything to get elected — no matter how it differs with their past positions or how harmful their positions may be to the Latino community.
“If Mitt Romney becomes the Republican nominee, his position on immigration would be the most extreme of any presidential nominee of our time. Romney’s political recklessness means that our community would be exposed to extreme anti-immigrant laws – Romney, like Rubio, fully endorses extreme state-based immigration laws. Mitt Romney has said he would veto the DREAM Act if he were president, and Rubio, just this week, proposed denying a path to earned citizenship to young adults who were brought to the U.S. as children, through no fault of their own – even if they serve in the armed forces or are pursuing higher education.
“It is disheartening that, with Rubio’s endorsement of Romney, he joins anti-immigrant leaders like Kris Kobach – the architect of extreme anti-immigrant state laws – and Arizona governor Jan Brewer. Rubio threw his lot in with the candidate who, on immigration, would be the most extreme presidential nominee of our time.”
