A Venezuelan-born DREAMer is featured in a new radio ad by the immigration group America's Voice challenging Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio, both of whom have pledged to end a program providing deportation relief to people like him. Trump has promised to immediately suspend President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has allowed hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought here as minors to avoid deportation if they attended college or enlisted in the military.
“I wasn’t born in the United States, but I grew up here. This is country I love, but I can’t vote for its future," says Juan Escalante, a Florida State University alum and digital campaigns manager for America's Voice. "DACA, which Obama implemented, lets me work without fear of deportation. However, Donald Trump has promised to eliminate it on his first day as president. Marco Rubio supports Trump. Patrick Murphy supports DREAMers. This November I am asking you, a citizen, to vote for me.”
The six-figure ad buy will be running for the next two weeks in the Miami and Orlando areas, which are both heavily populated by Latinos. It's a strong appeal for Latino voters to not only reject the divisive politics of Trump but also those of Trump supporter Rubio, who many Latinos believe has turned his back on providing the same opportunity to others that his family was afforded as Cuban immigrants.
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Sergio Bustos writes:
Escalante says Rubio, the son of Cuban-American immigrants, was being hypocritical during his failed presidential run in talking about his family’s immigration story and not giving other immigrants a chance to make it in America.
"Rubio will try to sell you the immigrant story about his parents, how they worked hard, and eventually were able to achieve the American Dream — and while that sounds great on the campaign trail, the truth is that he is trying to ensure that no such opportunity is presented to young immigrants like myself," Escalante told POLITICO Florida.
Meanwhile, Rubio's Democratic challenger, Rep. Patrick Murphy, has been leaning into the issue. He met with more than a dozen immigration activists and DREAMers in Orlando earlier this month.
“I’m never going to turn my back on you,” Murphy told the group. “I’m never going to flip flop because a political party or someone tells me to.”