Hispanic Woman Cannot Join Congressional Hispanic Caucus

[GMDino]

(10-27-2022, 07:35 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: The title rather says it all, Mayra Flores, who is the first woman born in Mexico to serve in Congress was denied membership on the Hispanic Congressional Caucus.  Not a good look for a caucus that was originally bipartisan.  But, it's their choice, so fine.  What should absolutely be required is that their name be changed immediately to the Democratic Hispanic Congressional Caucus.  I guess the reality of Hispanics tracking GOP (something I said several years ago would happen) isn't sitting well with the Dems.  As I said, it's their right to deny her membership, but damn if it doesn't make them look petty and bigoted.

https://thehill.com/latino/3707920-texas-republican-says-she-was-denied-membership-in-hispanic-caucus/

Quote:Sebastian Roa, a spokesman for the CHC, responded that the CHC’s bylaws have been changed to only allow Democrats. 


“In 2003, led by Rep. [Mario] Diaz Balart, GOP Members split from the CHC to form the Congressional Hispanic Conference. Per our bylaws, the CHC is now for Democratic Members.

Rep. Flores’ Extreme MAGA values and their attacks on Latinos and our nation’s democracy on January 6 do not align with CHC values.” 


The CHC’s bylaws changed after another Republican, former Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, applied for membership to the group in 2017 and was rejected. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Hispanic_Conference

Quote:In the mid to late 1990s, the Republican members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus – Mexican-American Henry Bonilla of Texas and Cuban-Americans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Díaz-Balart of Florida – left the Caucus in protest over its support for improved relations with Cuba.[4] While Ros-Lehtinen remained an active member of the CHC's public outreach arm, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the Caucus has since been composed solely of Democratic and Democratic-caucusing independent legislators.[5][6]

Feeling there was "significant need" for a "new Hispanic conference" newly elected Florida congressman Mario Díaz-Balart began to organize in 2002 a caucus for Hispanic Republicans to counter what they felt was Democratic dominance over Hispanic political affairs. On March 17, 2003, Díaz-Balart revealed the formation of the Conference in an open letter published in The Wall Street Journal.[2] Joined by Bonilla, Ros-Lehtinen, his brother Lincoln, and newly elected colleague Devin Nunes, a California congressman of Portuguese (Azorean) descent, Díaz-Balart decried what he perceived as Hispanic Democratic efforts to derail the nomination of Estrada, a selection seen by some at the time as a possible fast track to the U.S. Supreme Court.[4][7] The group was officially announced at a press conference two days later. They were soon joined by two more Portuguese American congressmen, Richard Pombo of California and Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania.[8]

[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Hispanic_Conference#cite_note-8][/url]


https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/HAIC/Historical-Essays/Strength-Numbers/Caucus-Conference/

Quote:Congressional Hispanic Conference

For much of its history, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has had a greater number of Democrats than Republicans. Manuel Luján, Jr., of New Mexico, who was the caucus’s longest-serving Republican Member, found common ground with Democrats blocking immigration reform measures such as the Simpson–Mazzoli bill. As the numbers of Republican caucus members grew (Henry Bonilla, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Lincoln Diaz-Balart), the decision to let Members vote individually kept partisan tensions to a minimum.


Bipartisanship dissolved in the Hispanic Caucus in the late 1990s, eventually precipitating a formal split between Democrats and Republicans. In 1997, two Democratic members of the caucus visited Cuba and met with Fidel Castro. In protest of the visit and of the absence of criticism of repressive aspects of the Castro regime, two Republican caucus members—both Cuban Americans from South Florida—announced their departure from the group.68 From 1997 to 2003, Hispanic-American Republicans did not participate in the caucus, and a second episode led to the creation of a separate group entirely. In 2003, the Hispanic Caucus opposed President George W. Bush’s nomination of Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia because of Estrada’s record and perceived lack of sensitivity toward minority communities. The caucus also objected to Estrada’s nomination partly because the appeals judgeship was regarded as a stepping stone to the U.S. Supreme Court.69 Hispanic Republicans, who believed that the caucus’s animus toward Estrada resulted from political partisanship, formed the Congressional Hispanic Conference.70