Bonta Blasts Trump’s Call to Ban Filipino Immigration

Press Release

Source: California State Assembly

(Sacramento, CA) – Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), Chair of the California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, issued the following statement today in response to Donald Trump’s call to ban Filipino immigration and tourism:

"The latest salvo of divisive and hateful rhetoric being spewed by Donald Trump demonstrates yet again that he is unfit to serve as President.

“As an immigrant from the Philippines and as the first and only Filipino American elected to the California State Legislature, I’m extremely proud of the contributions Filipino Americans have made to America, from fighting heroically in our Armed Forces to igniting the struggle for farm worker rights, and the list goes on.

"Trump’s call to restrict immigration and tourism from the Philippines doesn’t represent the America my mother believed in when she made the journey to this country decades ago. It doesn’t represent the America that my 1.5 million Filipino American brothers and sisters in California know. And it’s definitely not the America I want my children to grow up in. Trump's sweeping, irresponsible and vitriolic pronouncements on race have no place in our America," Bonta concluded.

Assemblymember Bonta represents the 18th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro. Bonta Chairs the California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, Assembly Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security Committee, and the Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color in California.

@realDonaldTrump's call to restrict immigration from the Philippines doesn’t reflect the America I believe in. https://t.co/i1uLFY9eam

— Rob Bonta (@RobBonta) August 8, 2016