Rep. Carlos Curbelo represents a Latino-heavy district in Miami that is a top target for Democrats in 2018. | AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File Hispanic Caucus denies membership to Republican Curbelo

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Thursday denied Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo’s membership bid, the latest volley in a nasty dispute between the Florida lawmaker and some members of the all-Democratic caucus.

The CHC voted to oppose Curbelo’s bid to join after weeks of back-and-forth between him and some members of the group who have questioned whether his intentions were politically motivated. Curbelo represents a Latino-heavy district in Miami that is a top target for Democrats in 2018.


“I think it was pre-cooked,” Curbelo said in an interview Thursday afternoon. “I will stand up to bigotry and discrimination no matter whether it comes from the right, the left, the middle.”

The move comes as both the CHC and Curbelo are pushing for congressional leaders to secure a legislative fix by the end of the year for Dreamers, the young undocumented immigrants who could face deportation as soon as March.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has said he doesn’t want to tie Dreamer negotiations to a year-end spending bill but many lawmakers say they see that as the only viable option for addressing the issue before January.

Some CHC members were turned off by Curbelo’s refusal to back the DREAM Act, their bill to grant legal status to Dreamers. Curbelo has said he would vote for the Dream Act if it made it to the floor but has resisted CHC pressure to cosponsor the bill.

Curbelo told POLITICO he doesn’t expect their spat to hamper efforts to get a solution for Dreamers by the end of next year — while taking a shot at the CHC.

“I will not allow their bigotry and discrimination and penchant for segregation to hurt the young people they claim they want to help and I certainly want to help,” Curbelo said.

CHC Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) said the group’s decision wasn’t just based on the Dream Act but also Curbelo’s support for Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare and the GOP tax bill.

“Many of those votes in this climate gave members who voted no, and maybe other members, pause about whether or not this was a good time for changing membership,” Lujan Grisham told reporters after the meeting.

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Members also said a private argument between Curbelo and Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) recently, in which he accused her and the caucus of discriminating against him, soured their feelings.

“Everything else is resolvable,” said one member about the disagreement over the Dream Act. “Once you make it personal — the policy you can grapple with — the personal, now caucus members have to make a decision.”

Curbelo gave a brief presentation before the vote but did not engage in a back-and-forth with members. Several members had already declared their opposition to Curbelo publicly in recent days.

In a statement after the decision, group spokesman Carlos Paz tried to dispel the notion that the CHC should admit Curbelo simply because he is Hispanic.

“This vote reflects the position of many of our members that Rep. Curbelo and his record are not consistent with those values,” Paz said.

Curbelo has been pushing to join the CHC since January, first joining the caucus’ nonprofit arm to boost his chances. Many caucus members were initially supportive of letting him join their ranks but their support dissolved in recent weeks as the jabs between Curbelo and some members of the group grew increasingly personal and public.

Lujan Grisham would not say how she voted but seemed to indicate she supported Curbelo.

“I have been a member who has been on the record being favorable to membership by both Senate and House Republicans and I’ve been consistent in that effort,” she told reporters.