Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore
Aren’t all Hispanics Democrats? Nope. Not in this case. However, most Hispanic voters tend to vote Democratic. Knowing this, Republican candidates must manipulate their political ideologies so they appeal to Hispanic voters – especially on the topic of immigration. Many Hispanics are immigrants, and they often have a strong connection to immigration issues. In this election, the topic of immigration will play a very dramatic role in the presidential outcome.
Marco Antonio Rubio is a Republican United States Senator from Florida, who whole-heartedly supports Mitt Romney. Though he is very conservative, he tries to appeal to both Republican and Latino constituents by blurring his political opinion on immigration. Despite his conservative stance, he agrees with many of Obama’s views on immigration. He goes both ways, in simpler terms.
Marco Rubio’s position on immigration emphasizes the notion of leaving the topic to the federal government. He believes that states should not have their own immigration policy, but rather our country should have only one national policy. He believes English is the de facto official language of this country and argues that migrant children deserve to have legal status, but not citizenship. He supports the GOP DREAM Act, which calls for visas for students going to college or joining any branch of the military. In addition, he allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition, does not want illegal immigrants counted in the census, opposes granting amnesty in any reform, and supports full implementation of current border security laws.
Rubio was born to Cuban parents, so it makes sense that he supports immigration (to an extent, that is). Yet, he takes two completely different stances at times. He supports the DREAM Act (though he would make some adjustments) and believes that the Arizona law is discriminatory; however, he won’t count illegal immigrants in the census, which singlehandedly takes away their only form of representation in Congress. Being able to compromise is a great skill for politicians and so is the ability to understand other points of view. However, it is detrimental to voters to have a candidate that is so divided on a topic. Marco Rubio is an excellent politician, but he must stop contradicting himself. Voters need to know exactly whom they are voting for when it comes time to cast their ballot.
Immigration Talk 
Marco Rubio gave a speech at the Republican National Convention on August 30th to introduce the GOP presidential candidate, Mitt Romney. What was truly interesting to me about this presentation was that it became very apparent that Rubio was only up there to appeal to the Latino voters with his and his family’s life story of immigration to the United States and their struggles to achieve the American Dream. He never actually went in depth to talking about specific policies that affect Latinos in the country, such as the DREAM Act or the anti-illegal immigration laws passed in Arizona, Alabama, or Georgia. He focused instead on talking about his own life and how his story relates to everybody else in the U.S. I think Rubio and the Republican Party are well aware that their stance on immigration-related policies really do not appeal to the Hispanic voters, which is why they chose to only present them with a relatable figure, Rubio, in order to try to win them over. I truly hope that the Latino constituents can be more critical of Romney and Rubio’s stance on important issues so that they may make the most sound choice when electing the President in a few weeks.