Graham: ‘In my world, Hispanics are Americans’
Sen. Lindsey Graham shot down former Sen. Rick Santorum early on in the undercard debate Wednesday, chastising him for suggesting that Latinos are not Americans.
Graham, who supported immigration reform that would have given a path to legal status for unauthorized immigrants, pointed out that Santorum never put forward an immigration reform plan of his own.
Santorum said he did have a plan in 2006 that would have built a border fence.
Graham said his bill went “nowhere” and did not deal with the problem of what to do with the 11 million immigrants already living in the United States without permission.
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“You’re right. It went nowhere because we had a president back then who was for more comprehensive immigration reform than I was,” Santorum said.
“George W. Bush,” Graham reminded him. “Who won with Hispanics, compared to what we’re doing.”
Santorum attempted to move on after Graham’s comment, saying, “We need to win fighting for Americans.” Graham interrupted him. “Hispanics are Americans.” Santorum attempted to explain himself, saying that Hispanic people are hurt the most by illegal immigration, but Graham cut him off.
“In my world, Hispanics are Americans,” he said again.
Graham’s pointed remark resonates in a GOP primary race that has often seemed like a competition for who can take a tougher line on immigration. Donald Trump suggested that Mexico sends its “criminals” to the United States, Gov. Bobby Jindal intones that “immigration without assimilation is invasion,” and Santorum and Gov. Scott Walker have called for reducing legal immigration in addition to eliminating illegal immigration. This is likely to hurt the party in the general election, where they’ll need a sizable minority of Latino voters to win.
