Immigration a hot-button issue in 2016 election

World Today

From the first day he announced his candidacy, Donald Trump has made immigration central to his campaign, but his position is striking a nerve for many in the United States.

Trump is up by more than 30 points from his closest Republican competitor. But Democrats, the party of President Barack Obama’s, say Trump has it all wrong.

CCTV America’s Jim Spellman reports from San Antonio, Texas.

From the architecture, to the street names, San Antonio, located deep in the heart of Texas, wears its Hispanic heritage proudly.

Sixty-three percent of the people in this city of a 1.5 million are Latino, mostly with roots in Mexico.

In Texas and across the U.S., Latinos are a valuable voting block.

Clinton has won the Latino vote so far, and polling suggests she is the heavy favorite amongst Latinos going forward.

Republican candidate Donald Trump has made immigration a key issue, promising to stop the flow of migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico, and planning to deport undocumented people in the U.S.

To push back against this rhetoric, Clinton has enlisted prominent Latinos such as actress America Ferrera.

The Republicans have gained little support from Latinos despite the fact that two of their top candidates are Latino. Both Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are Cuban-American.

Unless the Republican Party changes its stance on issues such as immigration, most Latino voters will likely continue to vote for Democrats.


Immigration expert David Leopold discusses the Latino vote

CCTV America interviewed David Leopold, the former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, about immigration and the 2016 presidential election. Watch his interview here: