When Eva Longoria stopped by CNN’s “Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien” this morning, O’Brien asked the “Desperate Housewives” star, who is a co-chair for Obama’s re-election campaign, if the President's record on immigration will be a problem heading into the November election.
In the interview, O’Brien quoted a recent TIME Magazine article in which Univision News Anchor Jorge Ramos criticized the President’s record on the contentious issue.
“He didn’t keep his word,” Ramos said in the article. “Besides that, the Obama Administration is responsible for the separation of thousands of families with children who are U.S. citizens.”
Ramos points out that, “Obama has deported more immigrations - over 1.2 million - than any other president in history.”
Longoria, who has already raised between $200,000 and $500,000 for Obama’s re-election campaign, responded to those figures by saying that while immigration will come into play in the election, it isn’t the biggest issue for Latinos:
“The economy is the number one issue that Latinos are concerned about,” Longoria said.
The actress said there’s been a lot of “misinformation” on Obama’s immigration record and alluded to the positive changes Obama has made since he took office.
“And even though that is true there’ve been a lot of deportations, the President has refocused the resources of Department of Homeland Security to prioritize criminal deportations over Dreamers or families that need to stay united. And he’s proposed a lot of changes to keep families together,” Longoria said in the interview.
O’Brien then asked Longoria about Republican candidate Mitt Romney's claims made after his victory in Puerto Rico, asserting that conservative principles and Latino voters go together.
“Well, specifically with Mitt Romney, I think he’s probably on the wrong side of every issue that is important to Latinos," she said.
"To say some dangerous rhetoric of I would veto the Dream Act the minute I was in office, he's calling Arizona's anti-immigration laws a model for the country and campaigning with the author of that bill.”
Longoria added that Romney has “polarizing” viewpoints and do not represent what Hispanics find important.
“Every Hispanic family is pro-God, is small business, is pro-family, is pro-child going to college. And, the policies that Mitt Romney or any other GOP Republican, for that matter, are proposing goes against that,” she concluded.
Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs week morning from 7-9am ET on CNN.
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