Discussing the upcoming presidential primaries on the February 4 edition of Fox News' America's Pulse, host E.D. Hill asked Eddie “Piolín” Sotelo, host of Univision's Piolín por la Mañana: “Do you think that the majority of Latino listeners that you hear from are going to vote for the person who basically is going to give them the most for, you know, for the least? Who's gonna, you know, open up the borders, who's going to give everybody automatic citizenship, that sort of thing? Or are they voting on other issues? On taxes, on health care, on those sort of things?” Hill offered no indication as to which candidate would “open up the borders” and “give everybody automatic citizenship,” nor did she offer any support for her suggestion that Latino voters want to “open up the borders.”
On the January 4 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews also claimed that Latino voters “want more of an open border.” As Media Matters for America noted at the time, a number of national and regional Latino groups have specifically rejected the idea of “open borders” while advocating comprehensive immigration reform, as have members of Congress representing states and districts with large Latino constituencies.
From the February 4 edition of Fox News' America's Pulse:
HILL: All right, let's cut through it all. Eddie “Piolín” Sotelo is a radio talk show host for Univision, has joined us before, and it's always good to have you back on the program. Thank you.
SOTELO: Thank you for the invitation, E.D. Hill. Thank you.
HILL: All right. Hey, you've talked to these -- you talk to the Latino voters all the time. You're heard across the nation, you're one of the biggest Latino entertainment presences in America. What are you hearing from your listeners?
SOTELO: My listeners, they are so interested tomorrow to come out from their houses and start voting, inviting people, family members, friends, co-workers, because it's really important to make a difference by voting. Why? Because when we come to the United States, we're so blessed to be living here, and at the same time, we have to learn English, we have to educate ourselves, we have to learn the laws of the United States. And now, we have the opportunity to come out and vote, because that's what we want, you know? We want to have a nation that we can be united -- united for the benefit of our families, community, and this great nation.
HILL: Eddie, let me ask you something -- very pointed, very direct question. Do you think that the majority of Latino listeners that you hear from are going to vote for the person who basically is going to give them the most for, you know, for the least? Who's gonna, you know, open up the borders, who's going to give everybody automatic citizenship, that sort of thing? Or are they voting on other issues? On taxes, on health care, on those sort of things?
SOTELO: I think my listeners, they want to vote, you know, for somebody who wants to give the immigration reform, because they've been working for so many years here. And even though they don't have their own papers, they still wake up every morning to work, you know, and be able to bring food to their own families, and at the same time, they help the economy of the United States. And I'm sure they're going to be, you know -- they're going to be voting for somebody to bring the soldiers from Iraq to the United States. They're so interested on that too, and on the taxes, you know, they're so interested. So, it's not going to be only for immigration reform.