WASHINGTON – Facing mounting pressure to resign and the potential to be impeached, the president of the oldest Latino civil rights organization apologized for the hurt he caused by sending a letter to President Donald Trump backing Trump's immigration demands.
"Let me begin by expressing my sincerest regret and apology for any hurt my actions in writing a letter to the President of the United States may have caused you," he said in a statement.
But Roger Rocha Jr., president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, continued to defend his Jan. 28 letter in the statement issued Friday evening, even though he said writing it "turned into the worst mistake of my life."
He said his participation in meetings behind the scenes with the administration helped get Trump to accept offering a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million immigrants, rather than only 800,000 and to change his position on a border wall to instead accept technology and more border and immigration enforcement personnel.
Those meetings led to writing the letter because he believed "it may well be our last chance to save and protect our dreamers and immigrant community," he said.
LULAC’s board scheduled a Saturday meeting at 3 p.m. EDT with Rocha, following two days of turmoil and backlash over Rocha's letter.
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