President Donald Trump will mark Hispanic Heritage Month on Wednesday, hosting a celebration at the White House with hundreds of Hispanic Americans and some business owners.
The celebration underscores the administration’s push to solidify the Latino vote ahead of the midterm elections. However, the optics of the event present a stark contrast to the president’s hard-line immigration agenda, which has seen a nationwide deportation effort led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that critics have argued disproportionately targets the Hispanic population.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is Cuban, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy alongside his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, who is Latina, will attend the event, according to a White House official. Rubio said marking Hispanic Heritage Month is intended to pay homage to Hispanic Americans who have contributed to “every realm of society.”
“Under the Trump Administration we are seeing the implementation of a foreign policy agenda that is once and for all prioritizing our region’s safety and security,” Rubio said in recognizing the month. “From the creation of the Shield of the Americas, to holding accountable Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and restoring an economic agenda that works for Hispanic Americans, we remain committed to working and winning for the American people.”
During the event, Trump is expected to highlight his administration’s efforts to tighten sanctions on Cuba’s communist regime. In August, the White House announced sanctions on five Cuban entities and eight individuals who help Cuba secure weapons and maintain relationships with foreign militaries. The economic pressure on the island has worsened an already struggling electric grid in Cuba, which has led to several blackouts over the past year.
Trump is also expected to tout his accomplishments benefiting Hispanic Americans, including tax cuts for working families, a drop in the poverty rate among the Hispanic population to a record low, and a record-high single-year increase in Hispanic homeownership.
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Additionally, the president will champion Operation Absolute Resolve in which U.S. forces capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. In the aftermath of the operation, the United States and Venezuela have built a working relationship in which the Trump administration secured an oil deal that grants North American Blue Energy Partners access to over 60 million barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves.
Trump had marked Hispanic Heritage Month earlier in September, saying Hispanic Americans “shaped the fabric of our culture, strengthened our most cherished institutions, and advanced the promise of the American Dream.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
