Donald Trump’s immigration proposals are under attack by a conservative Latino group, albeit indirectly. In a letter obtained on Wednesday by NPR, the Libre Initiative criticized Trump’s immigration proposals including mass deportation and ending birthright citizenship. Funded by the Koch brothers, the Libre Initiative has labored since 2011 to attract more Hispanics to conservative principles that the group describes as economic freedom -- reducing taxes, regulatins and social safety nets. The Libre letter doesn’t mention Trump by name, but it rejects two proposals spearheading the mogul’s campaign. The group rejects:
- An end to the longstanding practice of birthright citizenship in the United States; and,
- The mass deportation of millions of immigrants and U.S. citizens, particularly those who have obeyed U.S. laws and contributed to society since arriving in the country.
The Libre Initiative advocates for other immigration policies which were not mentioned in the letter, but the group used the message to draw a line in the sand. For the pro-business, pro-Latino group, saying no to birthright citizenship or yes to mass deportation are deal-breakers.
The letter is a direct challenge to Trump, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, and Lindsey graham -- all Republican presidential candidates who say they would consider ending birthright citizenship .
Republican candidates such as Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, George Pataki, Carly Fiorina and John Kasich do not support ending birthright citizenship.
What about massive deportation? So far Trump is the only GOP candidate to advocate total deportation of the 11.3 million immigrants in the country illegally. It’s estimated that mass deportation would cost hundreds of billions of dollars .
Like other conservative groups who want to cut the size and power government, the Libre Initiative isn’t thrilled by such a pricy proposal. Libre calls it costly and unnecessary.
“It is important that we enforce our immigration laws - and the federal government has clearly failed to do so [....] However, they should not unduly intrude on the lives of law–abiding Americans, or impose an unwarranted cost on the taxpayers,” read the Libre Initiative letter.
How much should the U.S. spend on immigration enforcement, and how conservative are those spending proposals? You can expect Trump and his rivals to spar of immigration issues in the next GOP debate on Sept. 16th.
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