2016 Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley — while speaking at the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference — simultaneously laid out the three core principles of his “detailed immigration policy” while bashing the entirety of the Republican field for “vilifying ‘New Americans’ … and fighting tooth and nail against immigration reform.”
The former Maryland governor began his speech by first noting that, “the genius of America lies in not where you come from, but where you’re going… We were once all strangers in this land, and we must all help each other if we are to succeed.”
After elaborating about his own family’s immigrant history — “my grandfather’s first language wasn’t English” — O’Malley outlined the three core principles of his policy:
1) We are and have always been a nation of immigrants.
2) We are a compassionate and generous people.
3) It is in the best interest of every citizen of the the United States to reform the immigration system.
In his own words, O’Malley’s policies will “provide immediate relief to the millions of ‘New Americans’ whose hopes have been dashed time and time again” by Republican leaders in the past. (RELATED: Hillary Could ‘Overplay Her Hand’ By Slamming Republicans On Immigration)
Additionally, the former governor singled out Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as a “hate spewing character … running on a platform of demonizing immigrants … He should go back to the 1800’s and run for the nomination of the ‘Know-Nothing Party.'”
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