Univision and Fusion anchor Jorge Ramos argued that countries are judged by how they treat “the most vulnerable, and here we have 11 million [illegal immigrants] who are vulnerable,” and that opposition to immigration reform and DACA would prevent Republicans from getting Latino voters on Wednesday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel.
Ramos began by discussing the presidential runs of Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, saying “they’re making history. They’re really making history…for our community, for the Latino community, it is huge that we have two candidates,” although he added the historical nature of their candidacies wasn’t discussed because they were following “the book of Barack Obama” and not campaign on their race.
The discussion then turned to the GOP’s struggles with Latino voters, Ramos stated that the problem for Republicans is “the issue of immigration…when it comes to values, you know what Ronald Reagan used to say, that Latinos are Republicans, they just don’t know it. Republicans, I think they’ve missed a huge opportunity, because when it comes to values, they’re very close to the Hispanic community, but Latinos honestly can’t see beyond immigration right now, because immigration reform is a prerequisite for the Latinos to look at Republicans in a different light. In other words — it’s a very simple concept, Sean, people won’t vote for a candidate who will deport your father, your friends, your colleagues, and young students. Simply, they won’t do that. And definitely, yes, Latinos have been voting more for Democrats than for Republicans. And now with Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Marco Rubio, the truth is that they won’t [vote] for them just because they are Latinos, they’re looking at their policies, and when it comes to immigration, it seems that Jeb Bush has a better possibility of getting the Hispanic vote than Cruz and Rubio.”
Hannity then turned to immigration policy, Ramos did agree with Hannity that other countries, including Mexico, treat illegal immigrants very harshly, treatment Ramos characterized as “awful.” However, Ramos added, “this is an exceptional country, Sean. This is an immigrant country,” to which Hannity responded “not an illegal immigrant country, though, Jorge.”
Ramos continued that “what are you going to do with 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country? You are not going to deport them, and we’ve got to treat them fairly.” And that countries “are judged by the way they treat the most vulnerable, and here we have 11 million who are vulnerable, who are here because millions of Americans, including you and me, benefit from them, and thousands of companies give them work. So, we’ve got to do something with them, and we’re not going to deport them.”
Ramos later transitioned back to the Latino vote and argued “Latinos won’t vote for anyone who opposes immigration reform, or who opposes DACA. They simply won’t vote for them…if Rubio and Ted Cruz decide not to support immigration reform [Latino voters will not support them.]”
At the end of the interview, Hannity took issue with Ramos’ characterization of Rubio and Cruz’s immigration position.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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