MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
If you follow politics, then you might not know the name Samuel Rodriguez, but you probably know of him. Rev. Rodriguez is the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, an umbrella group for Latino evangelicals. In that role, he's had important access to Presidents Bush, Obama and Trump. He was one of five faith leaders who led prayer at Trump's first inauguration.
Evangelicals have been critical to Trump's electoral success, as has his hard line on immigration. And while Trump has said he wants to end birthright citizenship, in his interview with NBC's Kristen Welker, Trump appeared to give children brought to the U.S. illegally as children - so-called dreamers - a lifeline, saying he'd like to find a way for them to stay. In a recent conversation, I asked Rev. Rodriguez for his take on Latino support for Trump.
SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ: The reason why 46% of Latinos collectively voted for Trump - that's record breaking - 54% of Latino men - that's record breaking. And the reason is, of course, economy/inflation. Second, the continuum of lawlessness, which includes the open borders. And No. 3, it's parental rights. That's a trifecta of why the Latino vote shifted so radically towards conservatism.
MARTIN: It seems to me that President-elect Trump is leading with mass deportations.
RODRIGUEZ: He is.
MARTIN: And you have such a large church in Sacramento. I have to assume that you have either mixed-status families in your congregation. You probably have some people in your congregation who are undocumented. What are you saying to them?
RODRIGUEZ: Yes. That's an accurate description. And what we say to them is, in my conversations with those that are associated with the transition team, I can tell you this. The mass deportations will focus on the mucho malo hombres - those that are involved in criminal activities. I do not believe the incoming administration will be targeting a man who is working, who's been here for 20 years, whose family was raised here and kids were born here and has never even received a parking ticket. I do not believe that person will be targeted for deportation.
MARTIN: You don't. Well...
RODRIGUEZ: No.
MARTIN: But I will say this. During the first Trump administration, the reason that kids were separated from their parents at the border is that the administration chose to interpret crossing the border without prior authorization as a crime in and of itself. And that was the rationale for taking children away from their parents.
RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
MARTIN: Some of them have still not been reunited with their parents. You don't think that's going to happen again?
RODRIGUEZ: No, I do not believe it's going to happen. I'm not going to die on the hill of any administration. My integrity must always be greater than my influence.
MARTIN: Why do you think he can succeed - or the country, I guess I should say, will succeed in adopting comprehensive immigration reform in this next Trump administration when he didn't do it in the first?
RODRIGUEZ: Because the overwhelming electoral outcome is a clarion call for President Trump and for members of Congress to act. I would argue, right next to inflation of the economy, immigration really was a priority issue but, again, with the understanding that immigrants are a blessing to America. We want them to come here legally. There will be immigration reform, hopefully in the first two years. I'm going to personally fight for that.
MARTIN: Do you think you have President Trump's ear?
RODRIGUEZ: I mean, it would be a little bit arrogant of me to say, I absolutely have President Trump's ear. I know that in the first term, we had some great conversations. I saw policy that reflected conversations that we had.
MARTIN: I do want to point out that a majority of Latino evangelicals backed Trump in 2016 and 2021. And you identified a number of issues that you think were relevant there. Is there something that you think the Latino community expects from President Trump in exchange for that support?
RODRIGUEZ: Heavens, yes - fix the economy, primarily inflation - fix that - impacting us every single day, impacting the community. No. 2, lawlessness - bring an end to it. And No. 3, which I do believe was a major, major impetus behind the outcome, parental rights.
MARTIN: When you say that, what do you mean by that?
RODRIGUEZ: So parental rights is in every regard, from indoctrination, from public school teachings, from just overwhelming government intrusion.
MARTIN: If I understand you, you're saying that you feel the Democrats have drifted too far left.
RODRIGUEZ: Oh, I don't...
MARTIN: Is that what you're saying?
RODRIGUEZ: I am not just saying that. I am - in a very Pentecostal, charismatic way, I am yelling that from the stage, not coming to you as a Republican. Coming to you as an independent person who has worked with both Republicans and Democrats, I don't deny the fact that I have conservative leanings. But with that being said, this is not President Obama 2008. And the Democratic Party needs to have a come-to-Jesus moment and realize they need to change the narrative.
MARTIN: I see.
RODRIGUEZ: They need to pivot more towards the middle, center-left in order to have, you know, legitimate long-term spacing in this thing we call the American political landscape.
MARTIN: That is the Rev. Sam Rodriguez. He is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. Rev. Rodriguez, thank you so much for talking with us once again.
RODRIGUEZ: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
