Donald Trump, the man killing the GOP

During his presidential announcement speech in June, Donald Trump made some harsh statements about Mexican immigrants. Trump called undocumented Mexican immigrants “rapists and criminals.” 

I’m a 22 year old conservative, and have voted for many Republicans over the past election cycles nationwide and in my state.  The statements made by Trump were not only arrogant, but left me saddened.

{mosads}Growing up, my family owned a tree nursery in West St. Louis County, Missouri. We had different Mexican born immigrants working at our family business, and many of them are still considered family to this day. 

I recently took a trip to Mexico, and my stops included the cities of Progreso and Mérida.  I was fortunate enough to visit the ancient Mayan ruins of Uxmal. It’s one of those amazing things I’ll never forget.

Our tour guide, Carlos, was one of the friendliest people I’ve ever come in contact with. Over the course of the six hour trip, he gave us a brief history of the area along with the Yucatan Peninsula where both of these cities and the Mayan ruins are located.  

Carlos explained how hard it was for many of the Mexicans in the Yucatan. He talked about the long hours they worked every day, while receiving little-to-no pay.  During our two hour bus ride to Uxmal, I was able to truly see how poorly many of the Mexican people lived.

Part of the writing on the Statue of Liberty says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Foreigners come to America for economic freedom, and that is what most of these illegal Mexican immigrants have done, Mr. Trump.

I firmly believe that the United States should have strong border security. Too many people are coming over illegally, and some of them are in fact criminals. But most of these illegal immigrants are searching for economic freedom that they don’t have in their homeland.

Many people will not agree with finding a pathway to citizenship for the nearly 12 million illegal immigrants we have in our country. After visiting Mexico, my views have changed.

I now believe that the illegal immigrants who’ve been residing in the United States should be given the opportunity to apply for citizenship.  If more Americans could see how poorly many of the Mexican’s live in their native country, they’d understand why many of these immigrants would want to leave for a land with true economic freedom like the United States.

Republicans should quickly denounce the comments made by Trump. It will only hurt the party during the next election cycle. If we truly live in the “Land of the Free,” then we should give these people an opportunity to live without fear and an opportunity to experience the American Dream.

Newhouse is a recent graduate of Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, with a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications.