Mario Diaz-Balart, who can best be described as a Congressman living in America as opposed to an American Congressman, stated:
At the same time, it's obvious that our immigration system needs to be reformed. The current system puts our national security in danger and is an obstacle to our economy.He also basically promised an Amnesty/Immigration Surge if there was a Republican (presumably other than Trump) in the White House.It's essential that we find a legislative solution that protects our nation, defends our borders, offers a permanent and humane solution to those who live in the shadows, respects the rule of law, modernizes our visa system, and boosts the economy. I have no doubt that if we work together we can make this happen, and continue to be loyal to the noblest legacies of the United States.
[The GOP response to the State of the Union sounded pretty different in Spanish, by Dara Lind, Vox, January 13, 2016]
We need to accept that we are part of the reason that important bills for our nation weren't turned into law. We have to fix that reality.As Vox's Dara Lind puts it:The new Congress has already started with this, and with a Republican president in the Oval Office there would be someone who would sign the legislation you have asked for, not veto it.
Yes, it's possible that Diaz-Balart and company weren't trying to refer to immigration reform as one of the "important bills" that weren't turned into law. But it is not terribly likely. After all, a paragraph earlier, while Diaz-Balart condensed much of Haley's discussion of "frustrations" felt by the American people, he definitely kept in the line, "A frustration with promises made and never kept." To a Latino audience, immigration reform is President Obama's most famous unkept promise.Of course, unkept promises to mostly white conservatives do not matter to the GOP. The entire Beltway Right election strategy depends on conning whites into supporting people who can promptly betray them the minute they set foot in office. They offer platitudes to the rubes, but they are much more forthright with their plans when speaking to a Spanish language audience.
Call it the Marco Rubio strategy. Faux patriotism for the palefaces, but loyalty to their co-ethnics when it counts. And if you speak Spanish, they'll tell you right to your face.