Rep. Armando Walle (D-Houston) said:

“If Republicans were serious about reaching out to Hispanics, they’d stop endorsing candidates that are hostile to the Latino community. Romney would easily be the most anti-Hispanic presidential nominee of our time. Only a few minor extremists have ever matched his vitriolic rhetoric towards an entire segment of our population. Romney should self-deport out of Texas.”

Rep. Ana Hernandez Luna (D-Houston), who gained legal status under President Reagan’s 1986 immigration reform said:

“Romney’s threatening to punish hard-working immigrant students who have the potential to be the future of our state. I see myself in many of these students. I would not be where I am today if Mitt Romney had been in the White House instead of President Ronald Reagan. It’s shameful that Romney would use young students to prove to the extremists in his party that he’s conservative enough.”

Today, MALDEF filed legal papers opposing an attempt by the State of Texas to secure federal approval for its new Voter ID law. The intervention was filed on behalf of two Latino voters and two organizations that conduct voter registration and turnout campaigns in the Latino community: Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and Mi Familia Vota Education Fund. The lawsuit by Texas seeks permission from the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to impose identification procedures that discriminate against Latinos in Texas. The U.S. Department of Justice blocked Texas’ Voter ID Law earlier this month on the grounds that the law disproportionately harms Latino voters. MALDEF has moved to intervene its clients in the case to defend the voting rights of Texas Latinos and to defend the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965…

According to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Texas is one of 16 states required to receive federal approval before changing voter laws, because of the State’s history of discriminating against minorities at the polls. This move comes on the heels of the recent Texas redistricting battle, in which MALDEF litigated successfully to secure two new congressional districts in which Latinos have the opportunity to elect their candidate of choice. MALDEF intends to ensure that Texas Latinos are able to realize that new power in November at the polls.