\u201cHe\u2019s going to say whatever suits him,\u201d Papi cracked as we waited for Hilton at King Taco\u2019s flagship restaurant in East Los Angeles on Thursday. We were dressed in our rancho libertarian best: jeans, embroidered leather belts, pearl snap shirts. Suavecito pomade for me, alligator boots and a 100X gray Stetson for my dad.<\/p>\n
Hilton arrived like he was ready to party in Hermosa Beach, in a black open-collar shirt that was either seersucker or unironed, dark blue slacks and white Adidas with orange ombre stripes. He wore a \u201cCharlie Kirk\u201d wristband and another reading \u201cSave Girls.\u201d<\/p>\n
In May, I challenged him to have tacos with my dad and me<\/a> after the internet mocked him for declaring that the hard-shell tacos at a Del Taco in Barstow were \u201cstreet.\u201d An undeterred Hilton doubled down on courting Latinos after that faux pas, visiting East L.A. multiple times and even serving tacos after a lowrider cruise.<\/p>\n \u201cThings haven\u2019t got a lot better [here], with a lot of poverty and crime and concern about, you know, just the daily things that are just a hassle for everybody,\u201d Hilton said as we waited in King Taco\u2019s lunchtime line. \u201cThe cost of everything. And [Democrats] expect that [Latinos] will vote for them forever and ever because that\u2019s the way it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n Gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, right, greets Lorenzo Arellano as his son, L.A. Times columnist Gustavo Arellano, looks on at King Taco in East Los Angeles. <\/p>\n (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n I credited him for courting Latinos. They\u2019re the \u201cpast and future\u201d of California, he told my father and me after we sat down. <\/p>\n Becerra, on the other hand, has campaigned like he has it as easy as the guy who accompanies the quincea\u00f1era girl during her showcase waltz. <\/p>\n I commended Hilton for his cheery, aspirational messaging<\/a>, which is what Latinos want to hear. I added that my father, uncles, cousins and even myself might have been inclined to give him a chance after years of Democrats running the state into its current stasis \u2014 except for one pesky detail.<\/p>\n The British expat has repeatedly boasted that he\u2019s the candidate of legal immigrants. My dad and so many of my loved ones came to this country without papers before attaining citizenship. Others remain without legal status. So why on earth would we vote for someone who doesn\u2019t respect us? <\/p>\n Hilton turned to my father as we dug into our lunch.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do you think of yourself?\u201d Hilton asked. Immigrant? Legal? American?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a poor, humble man who wants peace,\u201d Papi joked in Spanish as I interpreted. But he didn\u2019t appreciate the \u201clegal\u201d immigrant distinction.<\/p>\n Hilton tried to clarify that he meant people who aspired to stay in this country without papers, not people like my dad who are now legalized. I scoffed.<\/p>\n \u201cDo illegal immigrants want to stay [like that]?\u201d I asked Papi in Spanish.<\/p>\n \u201cNo!\u201d he replied. \u201cThat\u2019s why they\u2019re asking for reform!\u201d<\/p>\n Hilton bit into of one of his three al pastor tacos with gusto. In his Barstow video, he hadn\u2019t bothered to chomp into the Del Taco ones. <\/p>\n \u201cSo correct me if I\u2019m wrong. There\u2019s also people who don\u2019t want to\u201d become citizens, Hilton asserted. \u201cIf they\u2019re working with a cartel. Like, the criminal aspect of it.\u201d<\/p>\n And that\u2019s how it went for the rest of our hourlong meal.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think Hilton is the racist that Becerra made him out to be in Wednesday\u2019s CNN debate, accusing him of \u201cwelcom[ing] immigrants who look like you, but deport[ing] immigrants who look like me.\u201d <\/p>\n I told Hilton I thought that was a cheap shot. But as our conversation continued, it was painfully obvious that the GOP hopeful, for all of his Latino outreach, has stayed in a MAGA echo chamber. <\/p>\n That might play well in some sections of California, but it has no chance of carrying him to Sacramento.<\/p>\n No wonder Hilton look befuddled when my dad regaled him with the tale of entering the U.S. for the first time in the trunk of a Chevy in 1968. Papi said he doesn\u2019t regret coming illegally, because he needed a job and sneaking in wasn\u2019t frowned on at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy would I be ashamed of that?\u201d he asked, adding that he doesn\u2019t look down on immigrants who are now making the same choice.<\/p>\n \u201cI think most people don\u2019t agree with that,\u201d Hilton responded, adding that the Latinos he\u2019s talked to are proud that they or their families did it \u201cthe right way.\u201d<\/p>\n 1 <\/p>\n 2 <\/p>\n 3 <\/p>\n 4 <\/p>\n 1. LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 1, 2026: Gustavo Arellano and his father Lorenzo Arellano, from right, chat with gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton at King Taco in East Los Angeles on Thursday, October 1, 2026. (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times) (Christina House\/Los Angeles Times) 2. Lorenzo Arellano, left, sits with gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, right, for lunch and discussion at King Taco in East Los Angeles on Thursday, October 1, 2026. (Christina House\/Los Angeles Times) 3. Gustavo Arellano and his father Lorenzo Arellano, from right, chat with gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton at King Taco in East Los Angeles on Thursday, October 1, 2026. (Christina House\/Los Angeles Times) 4. Gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, left, dines at King Taco in East Los Angeles with LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano and his father Lorenzo Arellano, not pictured, on Thursday, October 1, 2026. (Christina House\/Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n I acknowledged that some California Latinos have become less sympathetic toward illegal immigrants<\/a> \u2014 but that was before Trump\u2019s cruel immigration sweeps crashed into our daily lives and motivated nearly all the Latinos I know to walk around with their U.S. passports<\/a>, if they\u2019re lucky enough to have one.<\/p>\n I asked Hilton what he would do for undocumented Californians if he\u2019s elected governor.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all, I just want to be really clear: It\u2019s not my priority,\u201d Hilton said as my father silently scarfed down his al pastor burrito. \u201cMy priority is reducing the cost of living for, like, everybody. … One thing I learned in government is you can\u2019t do too many things \u2014 otherwise you don\u2019t get anything done properly.\u201d<\/p>\n He correctly pointed out that a governor doesn\u2019t have the power to legalize immigrants. I retorted that California governors going back to Gray Davis have stood by undocumented residents, signing bills that allowed them to obtain driver\u2019s licenses<\/a> and in-state college tuition<\/a>, as well as going to court against Trump to protect those rights and many more.<\/p>\n So would Hilton at least be an advocate for undocumented immigrants?<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I don\u2019t know,\u201d he replied. <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve had all this time to get to this point to not know?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m advocating for,\u201d was all he could come up with.<\/p>\n I asked my dad if he thinks Trump \u2014 whose endorsement Hilton sought and secured \u2014 is a racist.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to say things that will get me in trouble,\u201d Papi said, which drew a giggle from Hilton.<\/p>\n I rephrased what I was trying to get at: Have the actions of immigration agents been racist?<\/p>\n \u201cOf course!\u201d Papi exclaimed in English. He told Hilton about the many times la migra nabbed him during the 1970s \u2014 \u201cthey nice, talking with respect. Now the ICE, they killing people. They hitting people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t like that as well,\u201d Hilton admitted.<\/p>\n So does he think racism motivates Trump\u2019s deportation deluge?<\/p>\n \u201cI really don\u2019t,\u201d Hilton replied. <\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all, I just want to be really clear: It\u2019s not my priority,\u201d says Hilton when asked about what he would do for undocumented immigrants if elected governor. \u201cMy priority is reducing the cost of living for, like, everybody.\u201d <\/p>\n (Christina House\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n He acknowledged that immigration agents can get \u201ctoo heavy-handed\u201d \u2014 and that\u2019s why one of his first phone calls as governor would be to border czar Tom Homan to discuss how la migra could act in a \u201chumane way.\u201d<\/p>\n Raids \u201caffect our communities,\u201d Hilton continued. \u201cI hear about it from businesses, people not coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Gubernatorial](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791024971_842_.jpeg\")
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