Some of Donald Trump’s Hispanic backers are distancing themselves from the Republican nominee after he stood by a hardline approach to illegal immigration in a key speech and ignored intra-party calls to soften his tone.
Trump reiterated in a speech on Wednesday that the only way undocumented foreigners could live in the United States legally under his presidency would be to leave and apply for re-entry.
But the businessman, trailing Democrat Hillary Clinton in opinion polls, did back away from promising to deport immediately the 11 million immigrants in the United States illegally and said he would prioritize those with criminal records.
While polls show a large majority of Hispanic voters oppose Trump, the withdrawal of support from among his small group of Latino backers underscores how difficult it is for Trump to broaden his support with minorities and moderate voters.
Alfonso Aguilar, who recently organized a support letter on behalf of Trump, said he felt “disappointed and misled” by the fiery speech and withdrew his backing.
“For the last two months he said he was not going to deport people without criminal records. He actually said that he was going to treat undocumented immigrants without criminal records in a humane and compassionate way,” Aguilar told CNN on Thursday. He is the president of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles group.
Trump used an appearance in Phoenix on Wednesday to clarify his stance on illegal immigration after prevaricating on the issue last week. He returned to the hardline rhetoric that powered him to victory in the Republican presidential nomination race over 16 rivals, heartening those conservatives drawn to Trump by the issue.
Some members of a council Trump formed last month to advise him on Hispanic issues expressed reservations about or cut ties to the New York real estate developer’s candidacy after the Phoenix speech.
Jacob Monty, a Texas attorney and member of the group, said he was withdrawing his support and would not vote in the Nov. 8 election.
“There was nothing pro-business in that speech,” Monty told MSNBC. “We were hoping for some glimmer of the Donald Trump that we met with a week and half ago, but it never came.”
Panel member Ramiro Pena, a Baptist pastor in Texas who spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, told party leaders that he was reconsidering his support, according to an email obtained by Politico.
Other Latino advisers, including Florida pastor Mario Bramnick and Kentucky State Senator Ralph Alvardo, said they would continue working with the Trump campaign.
At a campaign rally on Thursday in Wilmington, Ohio, Trump said his immigration plan would treat everyone with “dignity, respect and compassion” but prioritize compassion for American citizens and include ideological screening.
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“We only want to admit those into our country who share our values and love our people,” Trump said.
Trump’s Phoenix address, which was flagged as a major policy speech, occurred just hours after he met with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City.
At a joint press conference after the meeting, Trump said the pair discussed his campaign promise to build a border wall but not which country would pay for it. Pena Nieto said on Twitter on Wednesday night he had “made it clear” Mexico would not be paying for the wall.
“We will build a great wall along the southern border,” Trump said in the Arizona speech. “And Mexico will pay for the wall – 100 percent. They don’t know it yet, but they’re going to pay for the wall.”
Clinton’s presidential campaign called Trump’s immigration speech a “disaster” and said it would begin running advertisements in Arizona, which traditionally supports Republican White House candidates.
The Clinton campaign is already running commercials in the traditional battleground states of Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
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