Trump-aligned Texas candidates shun conservative Latino group on immigration

Is there room for Latinos in the Republican Party, even if they are conservatives, support Trump, and are able to offer endorsements and money to candidates? Apparently, not anymore. Or rather not when all the candidates are guessing what Trump’s reaction would be if they accepted the support.

It’s not often that a political candidate turns down support.

But three Texas state Senate candidates rejected endorsements, and money, from a prominent national Hispanic conservative group this week because it is at odds with former President Donald Trump on immigration.

Pete Flores, running in Texas Senate District 24, Mayes Middleton, a Senate District 11 candidate and Rep. Tan Parker, in Senate District 12, publicly rejected endorsements from the political arm of The LIBRE Initiative. They took issue with LIBRE’s support for a pathway to citizenship for certain immigrants who lack legal or permanent legal status. “I did not solicit the endorsement. I do not want the endorsement.

I will not accept the endorsement. I reject it,” Flores said in a statement issued Monday. “I have a long track record of fighting any effort to grant amnesty to those who entered America illegally. I oppose any effort to establish programs that create shortcuts or allow certain people to jump to the head of the line,” he said.

Two of the hopefuls have formal backing from Trump, and all three want to be identified with his brand of politics. Flores’ campaign did not return a call or email from NBC News requesting comment. Middleton and Parker issued similarly worded statements. Jason Villalba, CEO of the conservative leaning Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation , said the rejections show that “in today’s Republican Party, even a group as centrist and chamber of commerce-looking as LIBRE is no longer welcome, because if you are […]

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