A Hispanic Democrat from New York slammed the main Republican congressional campaign arm for calling him an “illegal immigrant.”
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who is the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, slammed a tweet from the Republican National Congressional Committee.
“The Republican Party has been invaded by xenophobic feelings and xenophobes,” he told The Independent. “I think that it furthers explain that any that anybody that doesn’t look like them, they consider to be an illegal. So that is tragic.”
Espaillat delivered the Spanish response to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress. Espailliat at one point called Trump’s immigration policy a “reign of terror.”
In response, the National Republican Congressional Committee posted a tweet that many considered racist.
“Democrats literally chose an illegal immigrant to give their response to President Trump’s address,” a tweet said. “Predictably, this radical called Trump’s presidency a ‘reign of terror.’ Democrats couldn’t be more disconnected from the American people.”
Espaillat was born in the Dominican Republic and came to the United States of America as a child, but his family overstayed a tourist visa, a far more common form of illegal immigration than crossing the US-Mexico border without proper documentation.
“My family abided by what the law provided us, which was a pathway to become a legal resident and subsequent, obviously, a US citizen, now a member of Congress,” he said. “ What a great American story. But for them, that’s not enough, because they’re xenophobes.”
The tweet earned bipartisan criticism, with Espaillat’s fellow New Yorker, Republican Mike Lawler, criticizing the tweet.
“@RepEspaillat and I disagree on many issues, and agree on many others,” Lawler, who is considering a run for governor of New York, tweeted. “He’s been a good friend and a colleague — and more importantly a strong voice for his community and the Latino community, especially his beloved Dominican-American community. This tweet is inappropriate.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul put it more simply.
“Vile, ignorant, and racist,” she tweeted.
The Independent has contacted the Republican National Congressional Committee for comment.
