Donald Trump And Illegal Immigration: Hispanic Republicans Want Amnesty

For some high-profile Hispanic supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, his hardline immigration speech Wednesday night was a bridge too far and they're fleeing the campaign.

Jacob Monty, a member of Trump’s National Hispanic Advisory Council, departed quickly after the speech, Politico reported. "I was a strong supporter of Donald Trump when I believed he was going to address the immigration problem realistically and compassionately," Monty, a Texas attorney who had in the past pushed hard for Trump, said to Politico. "What I heard today was not realistic and not compassionate."

The speech, which happened just after a meeting between Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, called for ramped up border security and the ability to deport all undocumented immigrants.

"For those here illegally today who are seeking legal status, they will have one route and one route only. To return home and apply for re-entry like everybody else under the rules of the new legal immigration system that I have outlined today," Trump said. "There will be no amnesty."

Monty was not the only Hispanic leader to exit the Trump train after the speech. Ramiro Pena, a Texas pastor, reportedly called the Hispanic advisory council a scam in an email to Trump and Republican National Committee officials, according to Politico.

"I am so sorry but I believe Mr. Trump lost the election tonight... The 'National Hispanic Advisory Council' seems to be simply for optics and I do not have the time or energy for a scam," he wrote, according to Politico. "I will pray over the next couple of days but it is difficult to [imagine] how I can continue to associate with the Trump campaign."

Pena and Monty were not alone. Alfonso Aguilar, president of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, told Politico he was inclined to rescind his support for Trump. And Texan Rick Figueroa, a member of Trump's Hispanic advisory group, expressed that the Republican nominee seemed to he ignoring advice.

"I am very disappointed in [Trump's] immigration speech," Figueroa said in a statement, via the Texas Tribune. "Instead of listening to wise counsel from his advisors and supporters in the Latino community, who actually have first hand experience in the area of immigration, he went in the opposite direction and doubled down on his policies and his rhetoric. This was a mistake."