On Tuesday night, the RNC featured a number of speakers that spoke about the criminal acts, including murder, that have been committed by illegal aliens.

Because of this, the Republican Party is racist and its convention in Cleveland, Ohio is “the most anti-immigrant” gathering in the history of the convention.

This is the narrative that some misguided, so-called Florida and national Hispanic leaders are trying to push.

 “Last night we saw a small, limited vision of America — of blindly blaming undocumented immigrants for criminal activity, mirroring Donald Trump’s previous comments calling Mexicans rapists and drug dealers.” -Florida Immigrant Coalition Executive Director Maria Rodriguez. (POLITICO)

This kind of “blind” ignorance is expected from the pro-illegal immigration lobby, even as Trump’s past immigration claims have been proven to be accurate.

With all this said, and considering that this is an election year, the issue of immigration reform continues to be a very divisive one.

In southwest Florida, where a large number of Hispanic immigrants, many of whom are illegal, the issue of illegal immigration is at the forefront in the Republican congressional race to replace Congressman Curt Clawson (R).

Clawson is leaving Congress, and the winner of the GOP primary race to replace his will most likely be the next member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

While all three of the current GOP congressional candidates-Dan Bongino, Chauncey Goss, Francis Rooney- are campaigning on being very hawkish on legal immigration reform and against any form of amnesty for illegal aliens, you wouldn’t know this by just glancing over their respective campaign websites.

None of the candidates mention immigration reform on their websites.

Rooney, whose past support for the 2013 U.S. Senate “Gang of 8” immigration reform bill, muddies the water of his recent tough stance on immigration reform, is the only one of the three who has come out in force against illegal immigration.

Bongino has stated in his past two runs for Congress in Maryland that he opposed any form of amnesty or pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Goss did the same when he ran for this very same congressional seat back in 2012, and during an interview with the Shark Tank, stated that an E-verify system need to be put in place so that illegal immigrants would eventually leave by attrition.

Who will win this GOP primary race?

As of right now, the race is a toss-up.

Bongino has a national Tea Party following and is as conservative is they come. His endorsements from Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee will attest to that. But the problem Bongino faces is that he is perceived as a carpet-bagger.

Again, Bongino ran two unsuccessful Senate and House campaigns in Maryland and then moved to Florida to run for congress in Florida’s 18th congressional district. Bongino never jumped in that congressional race, but did mull over a possible run for Senator Marco Rubio’s then-open Senate seat.

Goss has a slight advantage because he has built up his name recognition in the district due to  his unsuccessful 2012 congressional run. Like Bongino, Goss has scored a number of endorsements, mostly local ones, and not the national pats on the back that Bongino has received.

Francis Rooney,who just scored the endorsement of Dr. Ben Carson, could be considered the favorite because of all the personal wealth he could expend to win the race. Rooney, whose campaign appears to have benefited from his past relationships with off-shore oil drilling companies, may have to deal with the ongoing water issue in Florida because of those post oil relationships.

Rooney’s biggest challenge, if you want to call it that, will be  contending  with his position on immigration reform, as many equate the “Gang of 8” Senate immigration bill as a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.