Photo Courtesy of Tribune News Service | Trump Speaks at a campaign event
By Matthew Zacher ’18
THE ROUNDUP
With a school diversity that closely mirrors that of Maricopa County, Hispanic students say they are offended by the divisive rhetoric of the presidential campaign.
Most of this ire is pointed at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“If I had to choose the worst of two evils, I would put some hatred on Trump,” said Juan Carlos Lopez ’17. “I just don’t like his immigration policy.”
Lopez is a Hispanic American and, over the summer, went on a Kino Border Initiative Leadership event to further his understanding and advocacy of the injustices in our current immigration system.
Trump started his campaign in June 2015 by advocating for a wall on the southern border.
His reasoning was that Mexico “is not sending their best people,” and that some illegal immigrants crossing the border are causing crime such as rape, murder and theft.
Since then, Trump has proposed deporting all 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the country, though he has begun softening his stance on this recently.
Nonetheless, Trump’s stance on illegal immigration has both propelled his base and been divisive.
Mr. Jose Leyba ’94 is a Spanish teacher and said he believes Trump’s rhetoric is deeper than insensitive.
“When we put a label on someone we demean or take away from who they are,” Mr. Leyba said. “Especially in the Latino community, I don’t think we ever use the term illegal because it criminalizes immigrants really.”
Mr. Leyba said that in the school community, we must try to reach out to every student of every background.
“That’s what is special about Brophy—the coming together of a diverse group of students,” he said. “We want to meet everybody where they’re at and grow from those experiences with each other.”
Enrique Ortega ’18 said he is not a fan of either Trump or Hillary Clinton as he said he thinks that both are hypocritical.
“Trump doesn’t have the competence to stop what he is saying,” he said. “He is not thoughtful about what he says.”
Ortega said that he is not offended personally, but that it is offensive toward immigrants.
“It is offensive to those people who have come in illegally and aren’t doing anything to hurt the country, they are just trying to do what’s best for their families,” he said.
Paxton Earl ’20 is only 12.5 percent Hispanic, but said he is still offended by Trump’s rhetoric towards immigrants.
“It’s not right that he looks at us as less,” he said. “I take it [the wall] personally, but I think it’s more of a general outlook.”
Earl added that Trump’s outlook is flawed.
“We are looking for opportunities in this country, but he doesn’t want us to do that,” he said.
Lopez said that his heritage plays a role in his opinion towards Trump as well.
“My heritage sways me away from Trump,” he said. “You’re not going to like it if someone comes up to you and starts trashing on America. Obviously, you’re going to say that’s not right.”