The disruptive views of Donald Trump -- a Republican immigrant's perspective

There is no denying Donald Trump is a newsmaker. The former host of "The Apprentice” television program and New York real estate tycoon has been an entertaining and outspoken businessman over the years but now Trump is creating headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Trump, the businessman, has entered the political arena and is obviously not very well educated on the platform of the Republican Party, foreign relations or the complexities of immigration reform. 

As an immigrant myself, small business owner, two-term Mayor of Downey and a Republican, I take offense to the mockery Trump has made of the presidential race and his viewpoints on immigrant communities, especially his negative remarks towards Mexicans. His contempt of Mexicans, Mexican-Americans and Latinos in general is an embarrassment to him and to our country.

Not only does Trump misrepresent the ideals and priorities of our nation, his inflammatory remarks are totally opposite of what the majority of Americans and Republicans stand for. His remarks are insulting, incendiary and scary.

I don’t know of a single person who believes Trump is a serious presidential candidate. So why is he running, besides the need to feed his enormous ego? 

One thing is certain: Trump is out of his element and taking media coverage away from important issues facing our country. Including important dialog Americans need to hear from respectable candidates to make informed decisions in electing a President. 

As an immigrant, we deserve better than the insults by somebody so out of touch with reality.
What Trump has managed to do, however, is to showcase political life is a completely different animal – one that is unforgiving and requires good character, not caricatures.

Mario A. Guerra is the former mayor of Downey, president of Independent Cities representing 53 cities and 7 million residents, and current treasurer of the Californian Republican Party.