Two Mislabeled Caucuses

On Wednesday, Townhall reported that Mayra Flores (R-TX) was prevented from joining the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC). Also, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) was prevented from joining the Congressional Black Caucus last year. According to their ethnicity, both of these Congressmen should have been members of their respective caucuses.

The article reports:

According to those familiar with the situation, Flores requested to join CHC in early October and was rejected shortly thereafter. Flores is not only first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress, but she also represents a district along the U.S.-Mexico border that is overwhelmingly Latino. CHC used to have Republicans members but they went on to create the Congressional Hispanic Conference as their own version of the CHC in the 2000s.

The CHC’s website websites states the Caucus “addresses national and international issues and crafts policies that impact the Hispanic community. The function of the Caucus is to serve as a forum for the Hispanic Members of Congress to coalesce around a collective legislative agenda.”

The website does not state in its “About” section that only Democrats can join the organization.

“As the first Mexican-born Congresswoman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, I thought joining the Congressional Hispanic Caucus would be a constructive way to build bridges and work in a bipartisan manner on behalf of our constituents. I was wrong. This denial once again proves a bias towards conservative Latinas that don’t fit their narrative or ideology,” Flores told Townhall.

Why bother to have a Congressional Hispanic Caucus or a Congressional Black Caucus if you are not willing to have everyone from those communities who have been elected to Congress participate?