February 18, 2016

Washington D.C.
OPEN LETTER TO THE LATINO COMMUNITY
On February 11th, twenty Hispanic-American artists and activists through the far-left
organization People for the American Way shared with you a public letter alleging that "Latinos
should understand that Donald Trump embodies the true face of the entire Republican Party and
that [t]he current slate of GOP candidates has proven to us that theyve joined and embraced the
party of Trump. http://www.pfaw.org/press-releases/2016/02/celebrities-release-open-letterlatino-community-targeting-gop-presidential-c
We are saddened that this group of talented individuals would try to use their celebrity status and
notoriety to confuse our community by making blatantly false allegations. While we agree that
Donald Trump has made outrageous comments that offend all Latinos and has put forward
immigration proposals that are unrealistic, impractical, and inhumane, it is highly irresponsible
to say that every single candidate in the Republican primary field is like Mr. Trump.
The fact of the matter is that the majority of GOP presidential candidates -active in the race or
who have already suspended their campaigns- have not used offensive language towards our
community nor have used any term in a malicious way to disparage Latinos.
Moreover, with a few exceptions, most of them oppose Trump's massive deportation proposal
and support a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants.
It is ironic that even though they are eager to make these vicious public attacks against
Republicans, they remain quiet when Democrats fail our community. They didn't say anything
in 2007 when then senators Obama and Clinton tried to kill immigration reform legislation with
a poison pill amendment or in 2009 when President Obama and the Democratic Congress
didn't pass immigration reform as they had promised. They didnt object either two years ago
when Hillary Clinton called for the immediate deportation of unaccompanied minors coming
from Central America or when Bernie Sanders erroneously argues that immigration hurts
American workers by lowering their wages.
We, as Hispanic conservative and Republicans leaders, were true to our community and early on,
a long time before this group of individuals spoke up, denounced Trump for his insulting rhetoric
and misguided proposals. They, on the contrary, seem more interested in playing politics with
our community -their own community- than looking out for its best interests. Their priority
unfortunately is not to advance the Latino community, but to advance the agenda of the radical
Left and the Democratic Party.

To them, we say: you do not speak for all of us! Our community is not monolithic. We are
diverse and have different views. Please do not treat us in a condescending way. And, most of
all, don't try to sell us out to one political party.
Sincerely,
Massey Villarreal
Hispanic Conservative Roundtable

Rosario Marn
Hispanic Conservative Roundtable and former
U.S. Treasurer

Alfonso Aguilar
Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles

Mario Lopez
Hispanic Leadership Fund

Rev. Samuel Rodrguez

National Hispanic Christian Leadership Council

Mario Rodrguez
Hispanic 100

Rev. Tony Surez

National Hispanic Christian Leadership Council

Jerry Natividad
Lakewood, Colorado

Linda Chvez
The Becoming American Institute

Jose Fuentes-Agostini
Former Puerto Rico Attorney General

Ruben Barrales
GrowElect

Carlos Mercader
Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles

Joe Hernndez
Las Vegas, Nevada

Hon. Abel Nazario

Mayor of Yauco, Puerto Rico/PR GOP

Vera Ortegn
Pueblo, Colorado

Luis Figueroa
Foundation for Puerto Rico Statehood

CARTA ABIERTA A LA COMUNIDAD LATINA:

El pasado 11 de febrero veinte artistas y activistas hispano-americanos compartieron una carta
pblica con ustedes a travs de la organizacin de extrema izquierda, People for the American
Way, en la que alegan que [l]os latinos debemos entender que Donald Trump es la
representacin de la verdadera cara de todo el Partido Republicano y que [l]a actual lista de
candidatos de la Base Republicana nos ha demostrado que se han unido y han abrazado el partido
de Trump. http://www.pfaw.org/press-releases/2016/02/celebrities-release-open-letter-latinocommunity-targeting-gop-presidential-c
Estamos apenados que este grupo de talentosos individuos trate de usar su status de celebridad y
su notoriedad para confundir a nuestra comunidad haciendo alegaciones patentemente falsas.

Aunque estamos de acuerdo que Donald Trump ha hecho comentarios escandalosos que ofenden
a todos los latinos y ha avanzado propuestas sobre inmigracin que son irreales, imprcticas e
inhumanas, es altamente irresponsable decir que cada uno de los candidatos en la primaria
republicana es como el seor Trump.
La verdad es que ninguno de los candidatos fuera de Trump ha usado lenguaje ofensivo hacia
nuestra comunidad. Con la excepcin de Trump, ninguno ha usado ningn termino con
intenciones maliciosas, para despreciar a los latinos.
Ms an, la mayora de los candidatos presidenciales republicanos activos en la contienda as
como los que ya han suspendido sus campaas; con unas pocas excepciones, se oponen a la
propuesta de Trump a favor de las deportaciones masivas y apoyan un paso a un status legal para
los inmigrantes indocumentados.
Es irnico, sin embargo, que mientras estn ansiosos por hacer estos viciosos ataques pblicos en
contra de los republicanos, estas personas se mantengan callados cuando los demcratas le fallan
a nuestra comunidad. No dijeron nada cuando en el 2007 los entonces senadores Obama y
Clinton trataron de matar el proyecto de ley de reforma migratoria con una enmienda diseada
como pldora venenosa o en el 2009 cuando el presidente Obama y el Congreso demcrata no
pasaron una reforma migratoria como haban prometido. Tampoco objetaron hace dos aos
cuando Hillary Clinton hizo un llamado a que los nios no acompaados provenientes de
Amrica Central fueran deportados inmediatamente o cuando Bernie Sanders argumenta
equivocadamente que la inmigracin le hace dao a los trabajadores estadounidenses porque
reduce sus jornales.
Nosotros, como lideres hispanos conservadores y republicanos, fuimos honestos con nuestra
comunidad y desde temprano, mucho antes que este grupo de individuos alzara su voz,
denunciamos a Trump por su retrica insultante y mal enfocadas propuestas. Ellos, por el
contrario, parecen estar ms interesados en jugar a la poltica con nuestra comunidad su
comunidad- que en velar por sus mejores intereses. Su prioridad, desafortunadamente, no es
echar hacia adelante a la comunidad latina, sino adelantar la agenda de la izquierda radical y del
partido demcrata.
A ellos, les decimos: ustedes no hablan por todos nosotros! Nuestra comunidad no es monoltica.
Somos una comunidad diversa con opiniones diferentes. Por favor no nos traten de una manera
condescendiente. Y, sobre todo, no nos traten de vender a un partido poltico.
Sinceramente,
Firmas (arriba)
###
The Hispanic Conservative Roundtable is a non-profit organization that seeks to provide a
strong and united voice for the Hispanic community within the conservative movement,
advancing and defending the issues of importance to Latinos.