Which Democratic Candidate Has Taken Lead on U.S. Latino Issues? The Answer Might Surprise You

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from Latino Rebels:


Earlier this week, the nation’s three most visible Democratic presidential candidates (Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley and Hillary Clinton) spoke at the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference. For many, the NCLR event is considered to be the symbolic moment where politics and the political press pay attention to how candidates are addressing the growing U.S. Latino vote. The NCLR speeches marked an appropriate time to examine where each of the three Democrat candidates stand on current issues specific to U.S. Latinos. As a result, our team spent the rest of the week exploring some of these issues in more depth and compared the candidates’ positions. What follows is an initial take of what we found, based on specific topics our community has been following.
Immigration Reform

While all three candidates favor comprehensive immigration reform, O’Malley was the only candidate this week to release a very detailed and explicit platform on immigration. Highlights of the plan are being hailed as the most progressive anyone seen so far, with a focus on extending administrative relief and putting an end to detention centers.

The same day O’Malley released his plan, Univision anchor Jorge Ramos (whose daughter works for the Clinton campaign) tweeted this:

JORGE RAMOS @jorgeramosnews
@MartinOMalley released the most inclusive immigration plan so far. Includes healthcare for undocumented immigrants. https://martinomalley.com/the-latest/immigration/ …

A review of Sanders’ ISSUES website does not contain specifics about an immigration platform. Right now, the only Democratic candidate with a specific platform is O’Malley. Furthermore, O’Malley was the first presidential candidate to accept the invitation to speak at NCLR. On June 18, NCLR included O’Malley’s name in an official press release. NCLR announced Clinton’s appearance on July 2. Sanders’ appearance was announced on July 9.

On June 30, O’Malley’s Twitter profile shared two tweets about Puerto Rico:

The first one was in English:



The second one was in Spanish:

So far, O’Malley is the only Democratic candidate speaking about the current situation in the Dominican Republic. The Maryland governor penned an op-ed on June 17 for the Huffington Post. In that op-ed, he wrote:

These mass deportations —if enacted— would also be an abhorrent affront to human rights by one of our closest neighbors. Rather than being silent, the United States should work with our allies in the region and the United Nations, while also using the full force of our diplomatic might to stop this injustice. Countries that disrespect international norms will be judged in the eyes of the world, and should be held accountable. This is just one critical step we need to take to heal relationships in our own hemisphere—not only by renewing our focus on the region, but also by examining the policies we’ve embraced at home and abroad, some of which have diminished our standing with our closest neighbors…Speaking out against the impending injustice against Haitians in the Dominican Republic is the first thing we can do to begin to reclaim our credibility and moral standing. I intend to express my concerns directly to Dominican and Haitian leaders in the coming days. We should exercise all our leverage as a key ally and leader in the region to address this crisis and the underlying causes of forced migration.

Earlier in July, O’Malley went on Radio Soleil to discuss the issue:

For far too long, I think our country has been silent when it comes to the most important and deeply-held principles we share as Americans in this hemisphere, and that is our belief in the dignity of every human being, and our belief that there is a common good that we share in this American hemisphere. And that common good is strengthened by the respect for individual human beings and human dignity. So that’s what this is about…I think we need to speak up … These forced deportations … create a refugee crisis in a world that has far too many refugees on them … Let’s hope that the pressure and the international attention here will get the government of the Dominican Republic to kind of wake-up and realize that there are certain norms of behavior that need to be respected.

That Radio Soleil appearance occurred after O’Malley went on Radio Mega in June to discuss the issue:

I don’t know why our government hasn’t acted. Our government has had their own problems with immigration reform and deporting too many people. I hope our country will come around on this…We have tended to pivot east and west, and our strength as a nation depends on our relationships in the Americas and Caribbean. This can be a great strength, especially in this world of limited resources and mass migrations.

O’Malley’s history of taking strong progressive positions is not new. Last year, he went on Latino Rebels Radio to speak about the Central American migrant crisis:

Danny Ramos @bibliofrontera
#Amen RT @latinorebels: We talked with @GovernorOMalley about the #ImmigrantChildren crisis: http://ow.ly/zzEB2

Nonetheless, a July 16 Univision poll reported that Clinton still has a commanding lead with U.S. Latinos voters...

[NCTraveler]

1. What I find to be most interesting about your headline....

is that there is truly only one answer. O'Malley. Hillary might be second in this area but not one contender comes even close to O'Malley. In this area and others. He is right and accomplished on such a broad spectrum.