Immigrants and children of immigrants in the GOP who spoke at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night had a point of clarification: They’re not the ones who the party keeps warning Americans about.
Most speeches on the second night of the RNC, whether from a candidate or an activist, depicted immigrants flooding the borders under Democrats — “Biden-vasion,” Kari Lake called it. The night’s theme, Make America Safe Once Again, manifested in stories of immigrants committing crimes.
The rhetoric, emboldened by Donald Trump for years, has put immigrants and children of immigrants in the party in an awkward position — one several of them contended with during their speeches.
“As an immigrant to this great country, let me be very clear to everyone who comes here: Don’t ask for the American dream if you’re not willing to obey the American laws and embrace the American culture,” Hung Cao, Republicans’ Senate nominee in Virginia, said.
Cao began his speech by banging hard on a piece of equipment next to the stage.
“That’s the last sound my parents heard when their fathers were taken away in the middle of the night, and they never saw them again,” he said. “We were given a new life in the most generous country on Earth.”
“But we’re losing our country. Under Joe Biden, millions of illegal aliens flood our borders,” he continued on.
Cao’s family fled Vietnam after the war when the country became a communist government, he said. But he “paid back every dime” of America’s generosity with decades of military service.
Republicans have made immigration a key talking point during Biden’s presidency, especially as apprehensions at the border rose significantly to their peak late last year. The party has blamed everything from crime to economic hardship on immigrants.
“The real threat to American democracy is that American voters keep on voting for less immigration, and our politicians keep on rewarding us with more,” JD Vance, who is now running as Trump’s running mate and whose wife is the child of immigrants, said at a conservative conference earlier this month. “No one can avoid that [immigration] has made our societies poorer, less safe, less prosperous and less advanced.”
As the party simultaneously tries to expand its reach, the message requires walking a delicate tightrope — one that immigrants and children of immigrants in the party are helping walk.
Those who spoke Tuesday all made a point to defend their own backgrounds: They’re the good kind. And they agree with the party’s rhetoric.
Vivek Ramaswamy, whose parents immigrated from India, emphasized that they came legally in his speech.
“We believe in the rule of law, and I say this as the kid of legal immigrants to this country. That means your first act of entering this country cannot break the law,” he said. “That is why we will seal the southern border on day one.”
“Our message to every legal immigrant in this country is this: You’re like my parents. You deserve the opportunity to secure a better life for your children in America,” Ramaswamy continued. “But our message to illegal immigrants is also this: We will return you to your country of origin. Not because you’re all bad people, but because you broke the law.”
Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno made a similar distinction about his family.
“Many years ago, my parents brought me and my siblings to America legally,” Moreno said about his parents who immigrated from Colombia.
But, he said, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats have “encouraged millions of illegals to invade America” and have “put the welfare of illegals ahead of our own citizens.”
“A vote for Trump and Moreno is a vote to put America first,” he said. “We will end the invasion at our southern border.”
Meanwhile, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, whose entire speech was about the border, featuring callouts to several high-profile crimes by immigrants who were living in the country illegally, did not mention that his father is an immigrant from Cuba.
“We are facing an invasion on our southern border,” he said. “Not figuratively, a literal invasion.”
During his speech, the camera flipped to attendees holding signs saying, “Stop Biden’s border bloodbath.”
Nikki Haley, whose parents are immigrants, also called the border “the single biggest threat Americans face.”
But she ended with a message of unity.
“We are stronger when we welcome people into our party who have different backgrounds and experiences, and right now we need to be strong to save America,” Haley said.
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Casey Murray is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.