Republican nominee for New Jersey governor puts some distance from Trump on immigration

TRENTON N J AP At a Spanish-speaking town hall the Republican candidate for New Jersey governor assured two young Mexican immigrants who were brought to the United States as children that people without criminal records would not face deportation Three nights later Jack Ciattarelli headlined a Make America Great Again -style event where a far-right commentator joked about building a detention center like Florida s Alligator Alcatraz in the Garden State How about the Boardwalk Brig Jack Posobiec commented with a laugh as he spoke later that evening at the rally Ciattarelli an unabashed ally of Donald Trump in recent times gave the Republican president an A grade for his performance in the White House But as Ciattarelli courts Latino voters in a hard-fought race against Democrat Mikie Sherrill the former business owner and state legislator has put particular distance from Trump on the president s signature issue of immigration Expressing sponsorship for issuing driver s licenses and Social Guard numbers to people who are in the U S illegally Ciattarelli has tried to strike a balance between supporters of Trump s mass deportation strategy and Latino voters that the GOP nominee thinks could be persuaded to promotion him In contemporary appearances in a Univision forum and in the final debate of the campaign Ciattarelli promoted not a path to citizenship as immigration advocates have pushed for years but what he called a pathway to recognition which he later described as a first step toward citizenship It s a high-stakes gambit in one of two states with governor s races this year Virginia is the other but it s rooted in Trump s improved performance among Latino voters last year In New Jersey for example Trump flipped two Hispanic-majority towns where he had lost by more than percentage and percentage points respectively in While the state typically votes Democratic in Senate and presidential vote years and Trump has lost it in all three of his White House runs it has swung back and forth between parties in odd-year contests for governor Ciattarelli s more lenient stance toward selected immigrants emerges amid Trump s all-out effort to increase deportations even among those with no criminal record beyond violating immigration laws Ciattarelli has softened his position in particular respects but he also has made clear that he wants New Jersey law enforcement officers to cooperate with federal immigration agents Sherrill a congresswoman in her fourth term has hammered Trump throughout the race casting herself as a bulwark against the administration But she has not made immigration a campaign emphasis Ciattarelli navigates the delicate politics of immigration Ciattarelli who served in the state Assembly and in local office before that had been critical of Trump during the run-up to the polling While serving in the Legislature he supported a bill that provided for in-state tuition for certain immigrants without lawful status In the governor s race he has aligned himself with Trump on at least a few of the president s immigration policies Ciattarelli has also mentioned that if elected his first executive order would be to repeal the state s Immigrant Trust Directive which prohibits police from cooperating on civil immigration enforcement matters He also has expressed opposition to giving birthright citizenship to children born to immigrants who are living in the U S illegally During a debate with Sherrill last week Ciattarelli disclosed he agreed with Trump that anyone with a history of criminality should be deported as well as anyone who committed a crime or scam But he broke with Trump slightly when he commented I believe that everyone else should be put on a pathway to recognition In front of Spanish-speaking audiences Ciattarelli has boasted of supporting in-state tuition to students without lawful status a practice that has been targeted by the Trump administration I do not believe that anyone should be living in the shadows If we re giving you a pathway to recognition that to me starts with specific form of authorities issued ID including driver s license Ciattarelli disclosed in the Univision forum fielding translated questions in Spanish from New Jersey residents which he answered in English Why does it matter Ciattarelli is hoping to reach a key constituency in the state where Trump cut into Democrats edge with Latino voters in as he did across the board in New Jersey Voter unease about the financial sector is sure to be central to that effort New Jersey Democrats too have largely shifted their focus to the business activity and driving down costs with polls showing inflation was a top concern among Hispanics About in residents in New Jersey are Hispanic according to the census Trump lost New Jersey last November to Democrat Kamala Harris by just percentage points a shift from his nearly -point deficit to Democrat Hillary Clinton in Among Latino voters Trump s patronage went from in to in according to AP VoteCast a wide-ranging survey of the electorate How the shift sits with Republicans Republicans who enthusiastically embraced the president s crackdown on illegal immigration may disagree with Ciattarelli s views but numerous still back him There are certain people it might deter commented Ed Durr a former state senator and Ciattarelli s primary foe who now backs him There are hard-liners who are going to see that as acquiescent to the Democrats Still other Republicans say his guidelines looks good compared with the position taken by leading New Jersey Democrats Mario Kranjac another former primary opponent in the governor s race who has embraced Trump invoked Sherrill U S Sens Andy Kim and Cory Booker and U S Rep Josh Gottheimer Mikie Cory Andy Josh and their fellow Democrats encouragement sanctuary cities and illegal immigration which foster crime and unnecessary expense he disclosed While Jack doesn t The White House did not respond to a request for comment on proposes by Ciattarelli that he would be able to work with the Trump administration to exempt deportations of people without criminal records Outside a campaign stop at a pizzeria earlier this week Ciattarelli repeated that specific people should not be deported and should instead be brought out from the shadows A request to the campaign to clarify how he reconciles his position with the president s was not answered He is pretending to care Sherrill reacted to Ciattarelli s pathway to recognition with skepticism That s not really a real thing That doesn t confer any status to anyone she reported during the debate She has promoted her background as a former assistant U S attorney who prosecuted criminals in addition to her work on federal act to create opportunities for citizenship She summed up their difference this way At the end of the day he s invariably going to do what Trump tells him to do Solicited repeatedly if she would keep the Immigrant Trust Directive in place Sherrill has revealed only that she would enforce the law Patricia Campos-Medina a labor activist who is advising Sherrill revealed Ciattarelli is trying to sound compassionate toward Latinos who are increasingly worried the Trump administration is scaling up its actions against immigrants and affecting Hispanic businesses as a conclusion He is pretending to care about immigrants and be compassionate but he is not giving you facts Campos-Medina commented We all should be asking How are you going to protect input from the Donald Trump machine New Jersey already recognizes immigrants How are you going to keep that promise Gomez Licon communicated from Fort Lauderdale Fla Source