A Hispanic congressman from Texas slammed Donald Trump in a scathing open letter Monday in which he calls the presumptive Republican presidential nominee “racist” and tells him to take his “border wall and shove it,” according to reports.
U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, a Democrat from Brownsville, chastised the candidate for his anti-immigration rhetoric, his plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and, more recently, his comments about about the judge presiding over cases against Trump University, according to the Houston Chronicle.
In a lengthy letter written in English and Spanish, the congressman said that that while he agrees with the Republican on some points, he called Trump’s “ignorant” anti-immigration opinions, “bigoted attack” on California Judge Gonzalo Curiel and his rhetoric on the border wall “despicable.”
In the latest controversy, Trump has said Curiel should recuse himself from the cases against Trump University because of his Mexican heritage, suggesting that his plans to build a wall along the border are an impediment to Curiel’s ability to be impartial.
After expressing his viewpoint on the various issues, Vela wrote, “Before you dismiss me as just another ‘Mexican,’ let me point out that my great-great grandfather came to this country in 1857, well before your own grandfather. His grandchildren (my grandfather and his brothers) all served our country in World War I and World War II. His great-grandson, my father, served in the U.S. Army and, coincidentally, was one of the first “Mexican” federal judges ever appointed to the federal bench.”
He concluded: “I would like to end this letter in a more diplomatic fashion, but I think that you, of all people, understand why I cannot. I will not presume to speak on behalf of every American of Mexican descent, for every undocumented worker born in Mexico who is contributing to our country every day or, for that matter, every decent citizen in Mexico. But, I am sure that many of these individuals would agree with me when I say: ‘Mr. Trump, you’re a racist and you can take your border wall and shove it up your a–.'”
Click here to read the full letter.
The CNN Wire contributed to this story.