Calvin Turnquest – the GOP Face of Legal Immigration (#FL18)
A legal immigrant running for Congress shows the proper way to do it.
Florida’s 18th Congressional District has an interesting contender: Calvin Turnquest.
Born in Nassau, Bahamas, Turnquest cites one of his proudest moments as taking the oath to become a United States citizen. A citizen by choice.
Having been through the tedious American immigration system, starting as an international college student at the University of Miami, Turnquest hopes to be the GOP’s new face of legal immigration.
Turnquest, hoping to represent Floridians in Allen West’s old district, has lived and worked in the district for 15 years. During that time, he and his wife (a practicing physician) have owned small businesses and Turnquest served as a Councilman and Vice Mayor for the Village of Tequesta.
“Those of us who have been through the process feel disenfranchised by those who get to jump in front of the line,” Turnquest said in an interview with me. A sentiment held by many who have been through the American immigration ringer. He hopes that in being able to share his story of working hard to achieve the American dream, other immigrants will be emboldened to choose citizenship legally.
Believing Republicans too often and too easily concede to Democrats when it comes to immigration reform, Turnquest said, “Pandering is a bad move, we’re handing this country and the votes to the Democrats.” He went on to say, “I’m so tired of hearing Republicans say, “let’s take a page from the Democrat’s playbook,” that’s ridiculous! We need to be changing the conversation and driving the narrative.”
“Experience the American dream like I have. Go to the back of the line, pay the fees, pay your taxes and then you’ll be welcome with open arms,” Turnquest proposed. He also indicated that there reasons we have certain immigration regulations in place, like protecting American citizens.
“When I went through the process, I had to present the U.S. Embassy with a certificate of health. One problem I see with illegal immigration; we don’t know who’s been vaccinated for what,” he mentioned.
When asked for his opinion on the current unaccompanied minor crisis Turnquest said, “I understand why people would want to come to America – to pursue happiness and prosperity. Those kids are being pushed here by their family and government as a way for families to gain entry to the U.S. on the backs of their children. I think that’s wrong.” Adding, “they know America will not turn them away.”
Turnquest is running in an August 26 primary for the chance to run against one term Democratic incumbent, Patrick Murphy. Being an R+3 district, the Turnquest camp is confident this is a winnable election.
One thing is certain, the GOP would definitely benefit from firsthand immigration experience and that’s undeniably an asset Turnquest will bring to the table.
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Comments
Now THIS… THIS is an immigration platform I can support! Does this gentleman need more funding or other support? Certainly I’ll use him as an example to others…
So great to hear someone remind us we already have a path to citizenship, and it works just fine.
I actually contacted the campaign earlier today, and yes… They can use funding. There are two self-funders (and you know the party loves those!) in the race. This is a true grassroots campaign, and they need support from all over the country.
I first heard about him after he accepted an invite to speak to the local NAACP, and went with a thoughtful conservative message. He’s on the ground meeting voters here every day. But money matters in campaigns, so if you can give, I know they’d appreciate it.
Great article, too! THIS is the immigration discussion we need to have!
I’ve met both Calvin Turnquest and Brian Lara running in #18. I am equally impressed with Lara. Please take some time to consider both of them before you decide. Lara is extraordinarily intelligent, and is not a career politician, but rather (in a Dan Bongino kind of way) felt moved to help correct the mess in Congress. Brian is Hispanic, solidly conservative, and his parents were immigrants.
The other big thing about the naturalization process is that, I am given to understand, one is expected to become at least somewhat familiar with US law.
One of the things that has continually struck me about the illegal immigration/amnesty debate is that the leaders of the pro-amnesty faction are often the same people driving their illegal workers out into the fields as the fires are coming over the hill.
It sure looks to me like they are really trying to create a new class of serfs, maintained by the public purse, and who either have no standing under the law, or know understanding of what standing they may have, all the while claiming it to be “compassion.” Sure seems like a cruel form of it to me.
I like this fellow. Can we clone him? We could use him in IL-1.
It would be great if Mr. Turnquest were to receive an endorsement from one of Tequesta’s more famous denizens… Nancy Lopez, hall-of-fame LPGA golfer.
“they know America will not turn them away.”
Well, I certainly hope America DOES turn them away … by any means necessary.
I feel, at this point, that we are already too late.
“If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed;
if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may
come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”
― Winston Churchill
I am convinced we will see a dictatorship or at least a one party government come into power in as little as two years. The enemy knows time is running short and they are acting quickly to take advantage of the window.
To think that I would have to face the same enemy my late great grandfather did at Normandy beach all those years ago. I’m mentally preparing myself for the fight and to put my life on the line. I would rather die fighting as a free American than of old age as a slave. I believe many of our nation’s law enforcement and military both active and retired will take a stand to uphold their oath. When they do, I will stand with them as a fellow citizen and patriot.
E Pluribus Unum
I sincerely hope that this worst case scenario does not come to pass, but it seems more and more likely that it will. All that’s left is to wait and see what happens.
[apologies all for the repetition, but I think we need to define what’s happening with clarity]
These children are accompanied. Unfortunately, by coyotes, by smugglers, by human traffickers, by all sorts of other scum of the earth. But they are accompanied. Just not at the moment they are discovered by our border police.
This is the first thing that we can do right now, stop using the phrase “unaccompanied minors.” Remove it from headlines and articles. Change the conversation & talk about the irresponsible and selfish actions of the parents. And btw, where does a ‘dead broke’ person come up with $thousands for a coyote?
While Mr. Turnquest talks about his story where is his plan to fix the situation? How would he get legislation passed to handle the situation with the children being brought across the border? How would he force the President and Federal government to enforce the laws. A good story doesn’t get results. There is no plan here to deal with the crisis or illegal immigration. Would he deport the illegal aliens or let them stay and pay those back taxes (you will never get its a fantasy because they are working under the table or under a stolen social security number and employers wouldn’t admit they employed anyways because it’s illegal!) and would he just let them stick around and get on welfare. Also, is back of the line deporting or do they get to stay for years and have kids and you know you can’t leave the kids here alone so the parents get to stay! No plan! I could go on, but as you can see a story is just a story and getting the job done is a different story.
Will this be on your Facebook page, so ican share it?
God speed, Calvin.