What happened next is what went viral: Paul leaned down to take a hungry bite of his burger, and, upon hearing Erika say she was a DREAMer, either choked or froze for a moment as the reality of what was unfolding struck him.

“Time to go,” Paul’s aide seemed to signal, and the senator was off. He grabbed his beer, got up quickly and did not even say goodbye to King. The burger? Abandoned, half-eaten. I guess Paul was worried about being seen with two undocumented immigrants—afraid to be seen acknowledging our humanity, perhaps.

Though it was easy for Paul to flee, it won’t be as easy to avoid Latino voters in 2016, assuming he wants to be president. Latinos made up 10 percent of the electorate in 2012, and we are growing. Fixing America’s broken immigration policy matters to us because it’s personal: Most Hispanic-Americans have family members or friends who have run afoul of the system. Earlier this year, 85 percent of Latinos said the issue was “important” in determining which candidate they would choose.

Paul understands this. He knows the GOP is in a hole with Latino voters, but his attempts to build bridges have been inconsistent. Just a few days ago, he defended his actions, saying, “I’m not interested in being filmed and berated by people who broke the law and are here illegally to try and convince me about policy.” Then, almost in the same breath, “But I’ll tell you I have sympathy for [DREAMers].”

Which is it? He has “sympathy” for us, yet refused to discuss immigration with us because, according to him, we are here “illegally.” But we now have legal presence thanks to DACA, and would have been offered the opportunity to formally become Americans if Congress had gotten its act together.

Unfortunately, Paul is part of the problem. He voted against the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” immigration bill last year because, he explained in an op-ed, “the legislation does not secure the border first.” Never mind that the legislation contained a $40 billion militaristic “border surge” that doubled the number of border agents and called for expensive equipment like Black Hawk helicopters and Predator drones.

“Of paramount concern,” Paul added, “is what to do with the 12 million people residing in the U.S who are in legal limbo.”

Here’s what we would have told him, had he chosen to hear our message: We are two of those 12 million. We were brought to the United States as children, call this country our home and aspire to serve this country. We are both college graduates — one of us a law school graduate awaiting a court’s decision on whether or not undocumented lawyers can practice law.

Many have wondered what was going through Paul’s mind as he dropped his burger. The more relevant question, however, is why is he raising money for King, the most rabid opponent of sensible reform? And would a President Paul rescind Obama’s executive order on immigration?

Being a senator is one thing; running for the White House is quite another. As Mitt Romney learned, presidential hopefuls should know better than to stand against DREAMers, especially given that 88 percent of voters support an earned path to citizenship for us.

That includes Hillary Clinton, by the way. Latino voters were tremendously enthusiastic about DACA, enthusiasm that helped lead to Obama winning 71 percent of the Latino vote in 2012. Recent polling shows Latino voters support further executive action on immigration to keep families together. Will Clinton be with us?

As for Rand Paul, he will have plenty of opportunities to discuss immigration, but next time we hope he can speak with us. We’ll even pay for the burger.