¡Los Hispanos son muy importantes!

To my great delight, Republican Presidential candidates took the stage the University of Miami for debate hosted by Univision, the most watched Spanish language television network in the country. The debate varied on the usually issues, from health care to illegal immigration to the war in Iraq.
The only candidate who refused to go, Tom Tancredo, felt that his fellow Republicans were "pandering" to illegal immigrants.

This train of thought that belongs to Tom Tancredo, sadly, is not isolated only to himself. Many in the party are demonstrating a desire to ignore the Hispanic population all altogether. My biggest fear is that the alienation many in the Republican Party have shown to America's Black community is going to happen again with the Hispanic population in America.

As a Puerto Rican American(i know thats a given since all Puerto Ricans are American), i must say nothing terrifies me more than the thought of the Hispanic community voting overwhelming in support of the Democratic Party (Puerto Ricans have already started to my personal dismay, supporting Democrats 70% of the time. I personally attribute this to most Puerto Ricans being located in the city of New York).

Why do i fear this so much? My parents and I are the only members of our extended family to leave the city of New York. However since i was a child I have been visiting the City two or three times a year. Many of my family is still troubled by the same problems my parents where raised with. Poverty, fear of crime and substandard schools. I have seen first hand the horrors caused by Democratic party's desires to get elected. I have seen how they turned members of my family into state dependents on welfare. I have seen how they deny my family members the right to a good education by pandering to teachers Unions and denying them any kind of school choice. I have seen how they block opportunities for personal advancement, and lie to my people about how Republicans will leave them out in the cold in order to get a vote. I became a Republican when i found out that New York was dominated by Democratic public officials.

I fear so much that Republicans will slip by and not fight for the Hispanic vote, and in turn just send all the Hispanics voters in this country in the hands of the Democratic Party. Republicans deserve better than what Democrats have to offer.

Hispanics understand the unfairness of granting illegal immigrants amnesty after waiting so long to become a member of this country legally. Hispanics need to know that the average Hispanic only receives an average two percent rate of return in their social security check, getting less than whites and blacks. Hispanics want conservatism, but they need it articulated to them first.

Republicans, we can articulate this message to Hispanics. Please, you can be tough on illegal immigration and not be as alienating as Tom Tancredo. Lets show the Hispanic community we care about them, we value them, and want a better future for them.