Sanders at Latino Conference Denounces Trump's "Bigotry'

Press Release

Addressing a Latino leaders' conference, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday denounced the "bigotry" of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

"I had hoped and I think most Americans had hoped that by the year 2016 we would be beyond having candidates make bigotry the cornerstone of their campaigns," Sanders told the annual convention of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

Sanders said Americans will not put in the White House a candidate who "insults" Mexicans, Muslims, African-Americans and others. "Our country needs somebody who brings us together, not divides us up," the Vermont senator said of Trump, who favors building a Mexican border wall and a ban on Muslim immigration.

In calling for immigration reforms that unite families, Sanders backed executive action to protect "Dreamers," the young undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children. He supported providing Temporary Protected Status to keep families and children from being detained or deported to Central America. He called for an end to private prisons and detention centers and for a re-evaluation of job-killing trade policies like the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In addition to his call for comprehensive immigration reform, Sanders argued for steps to boost wages, rebuild the disappearing middle class, end the rigged economy and fix a broken criminal justice system that disproportionately targets Latinos and blacks.

He also vowed to fight Republicans' attempt to solve the debt crisis in Puerto Rico by closing schools, cutting pensions and abolishing the minimum wage. He called it "grossly immoral" to reward Wall Street speculators and punish the people of Puerto Rico.

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