Immigration is likely to be an issue on the campaign trail this year. And, the Republican candidates will have their own immigration stories to tell.
Republican candidates in some of Virginia's most competitive Congressional races will be able to hit the campaign trail this fall and talk about the American dream. The Republican candidate that will be going up against Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger is Yesli Vega whose parents immigrated from El Salvaor. And the Republican to face Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton is Hung Cao, an immigrant from Vietnam.
"Yes, they are immigrants. But they are telling a story of immigration from a right-wing perspective," says Democratic strategist Ben Tribbett. "They're very much running as close-the-door-behind-us type of candidates, which is what's so appealing to the Republican base."
David Ramadan is a former Republican member of the House of Delegates and an immigrant himself. He’s now at the George Mason University’s Schar School, and he says Vega and Cao would both have more success if they represented the political beliefs of their communities.
"If they were not taking the hardcore position of anti-immigration in America, if they were not taking the hardcore position of closing the borders," Ramadan says. "Both of those candidates have taken those hardcore positions, and those are going to hurt them regardless of being of a certain minority."
As the campaign season heats up, so are partisan interpretations of what the American dream means and how candidates might be able to use it on the campaign trail.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
