Tension escalates following Heck speech to Hispanic group

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Joe Heck may have gotten more than he bargained for while speaking to the Las Vegas-based group Hispanics in Politics during a breakfast event Wednesday in downtown Las Vegas.

Heck, who is in a hotly contested race against Catherine Cortez Masto, answered pointed questions about immigration and expanding background checks from the crowd inside of Dona Maria Tamales.

Tension mounted outside the restaurant, where about 20 protesters chased after the congressman and surrounded his SUV as he tried to leave following the event.

Heck spoke to the nonpartisan group for about 30 minutes, spending most of the time talking about education before fielding a handful of questions.

Of the four questions asked by the group’s members, two lasered in on Heck’s immigration stance.

A.J. Buhay, a member of the liberal activist group Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, told the senatorial candidate that he was able to gain citizenship thanks to his time in the Air Force and asked why Heck voted against the funding for deportation relief programs.

Heck said he believes children brought to the U.S. “should have a path to citizenship,” but believes the power to allow that shouldn’t come from an executive order from President Barack Obama, but rather from a vote in Congress.

When asked if he supported mass deportation of illegal immigrants, Heck said he never supported such a move and said doing so would be “too expensive.”

Heck exited out of the back of the restaurant quickly only to be met by protesters. The activists, who stood outside the restaurant with signs and Donald Trump cutouts during the breakfast event, chased Heck while they yelled through a megaphone and surrounded his SUV as he tried to drive away.

Heck’s campaign declined to comment on the events.

One protester, 27-year-old Jose Macias, said he felt that Heck has worked against his friends and family members and that he wanted to tell the congressman that he couldn’t run away from Hispanic voters come Election Day.

“We are watching him, every decision he makes,” Macias said.

Macias, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico City, added those in the U.S. illegally “shouldn’t be living in fear.”

The protest was another chapter in Heck’s history of clashes with protesters in Southern Nevada.

His local office has been a regular target by protesters, with most typically protesting just outside the office doors. In 2014, five activists were cited by Las Vegas police after dozens packed into Heck’s local office to protest his immigration stance.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Find @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.