Hispanic Caucus denied GOP congressman membership because they use the group to strategize against Trump

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham told reporters on Thursday that the decision to exclude Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a Republican, from the caucus was “because we have strategies about the White House and we have strategies about those committees and we have strategies about who we are working on and leveraging with and that creates an environment where we stop having strategic discussions.”

The New Mexico congresswoman noted that end-of-the-year issues like negotiating protections for undocumented immigrants “were all-important issues that the caucus understood” needed certain leverage and that having a Republican in their midst could jeopardize that.