GOP presidential candidates of color walk a 'tightrope' as they discuss race

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/14/ [login to see] /gop-presidential-candidates-race-immigration-haley-scott
When former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley held a town hall with CNN, she talked about her family's immigrant experience.

"It was difficult at first," she said. "You know we were the only Indian family. We weren't white enough to be white and not black enough to be Black."

"They didn't know who we were, what we were or why we were there," Haley said, echoing a common refrain from her campaign speeches.

Haley also talked about how these experiences informed decisions she made as governor — including her decision to remove a confederate flag from the state capital grounds after a gunman killed nine African-Americans during a bible study session at a predominantly Black church in Charleston.

"It truly was the hardest time of my life," she remembered.

When Haley was asked later about immigration, though, her tone was sharper.

"We will do a national E-verify program," she pledged. "We will defund sanctuary cities once and for all. We will go back to remain in Mexico, because guess what no one wants to remain in Mexico. We will keep the provision of Title 42 and instead of catch and release we will go to catch deport."