Univision anchor Jorge Ramos opened Thursday night’s Democratic presidential primary debate with a short speech in Spanish to tell Hispanic viewers, “this is our country too.”

“This debate is taking place at very difficult moment for Latinos in Texas and all over the country. That's why it's important they know that we know that this is also our country,” Ramos said.

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The brief monologue comes as immigration continues to emerge as a chief fault line between Democrats and Republicans in Washington, with liberals panning President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE’s hardline border policies as inhumane and his rhetoric toward Hispanics as racist.

Tensions surrounding the issue came to a head last month after a shooter in the border town of El Paso, Texas, killed 22 people. It is believed the shooter wrote a racist manifesto before the attack warning of a Hispanic “invasion,” leading many Democrats to draw parallels between his language and that of the president.

Ramos and the president have also clashed personally in the past, with Trump saying at a press conference on the campaign trail in 2016 that Ramos should “sit down” and “go back to Univision.”

Rafael Nam contributed to this report