Congressional Hispanics' Hollow Advocacy

Ruben Navarrett Jr. on Nov 25, 2015

First, according to Politico, Turness used "illegals" as a noun when discussing a story the network did about Pope Francis comforting a young girl who was afraid that her parents might be deported because they're "illegals."

"I'm going to stop you right there," interrupted Rep. Juan Vargas of California. "We use the term 'undocumented immigrants.'"

How sanctimonious. You mean, as in: We're the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and we care so little for the "undocumented" that we didn't make a peep when President Obama -- the leader of our party -- deported record numbers of them?

When the lawmakers tried to get Trump bounced from "SNL" and were ignored, they revealed they have no power. Now we know they have lost perspective.

Turness apologized for using "illegals." But then she committed an even more egregious error in trying to feign familiarity by speaking a few words of broken Spanish.

"We love the Hispanic community," Turness said. "Yo hablo espanol."

For Hispanics, this kind of condescension is like fingernails on a chalkboard. According to Politico, it didn't go over well with the lawmakers. Several left the meeting in a huff.

Who could blame them? No doubt they have a lot of work to do -- continuing to carry water for the White House and ignore the plight of the "undocumented."

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.