Latino Leaders Condemn Aisha Wahab’s Father’s Racist Rant Calling for Melissa Hernandez to Be Deported

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: info@melissahernandez2026.com 

August 7, 2026 (714) 745-8782

Latino Leaders Condemn Aisha Wahab’s Father’s Racist Rant Calling for Melissa Hernandez to Be Deported

This Week, the Wahab Campaign Deleted Tawab Wahab’s Comment Demanding ICE be Called on Melissa Hernandez

DUBLIN, CA—Today, Latino elected officials and community leaders condemned a racist rant posted publicly on social media by Tawab Wahab, the adoptive father of State Sen. Aisha Wahab, demanding that ICE be called on BART Board President and Congressional candidate Melissa Hernandez and that Mexicans be removed from the United States.

“Call ICE on the Mexican girl she don’t belong here,” Wahab wrote. In a second post, he wrote that “this country belongs to higher people, not a fruit picker’s daughter…we don’t want a congresswoman from Mexico,” accused Mexicans of crime and corruption, and said it is “time to get rid of them and send them back to Mexico.”

Right now, the Trump Administration is using ICE to enforce deadly tactics to target Latinos and anyone who gets in the way of protecting our community across the nation. Now more than ever, we need Members who will call these types of incendiary remarks out, not delete them and hope no one notices them. Melissa Hernandez is the proud daughter of migrant farmworkers, who work from sunrise to sunset to provide food for our tables every night, including both Wahabs’. 

Full comment before it was deleted (attached)

Aisha Wahab with her father, Tawab Wahab (attached)

The posts follow claims from Wahab’s team that BOLD America, a group supporting Latinos for Congress, does not make its own decisions.

“Racist attacks have no place in our politics, especially when ICE raids are tearing through our Latino communities and families live in fear of being separated. Comments from anyone calling for a political candidate’s deportation should be immediately denounced. Deleting something is not the same as denouncing it. BOLD PAC is proud to stand by Melissa Hernandez amidst these attacks,” said Linda Sánchez (CA-38), Chairwoman of BOLD PAC. “State Senator Aisha Wahab owes voters straight answers since this happened on her own campaign page: Did her father call for Melissa Hernandez’s deportation? And instead of quickly and fiercely condemning the attacks, did her campaign instead delete them, hoping no one would notice?”

“The social media comments made by Tawab Wahab targeting Melissa Hernandez for her Mexican heritage are racist, plain and simple. She is a dedicated community leader who has lived in Dublin for over 30 years, and the notion she should be sent back to Mexico and have ICE called on her is disgraceful. While we can’t always control what our family members say, it’s important that candidates urge their supporters to conduct themselves appropriately during this election. Senator Wahab must denounce these deeply hurtful comments,” Zoe Lofgren (CA-19), Chairwoman of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation.

“Calling ICE on a Latina elected official is not a political disagreement. It is a threat, and families in Hayward, Union City, and Fremont know exactly what that threat feels like,” said Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Márquez. “I have spent my time on the Board of Supervisors making sure immigrant families in this county are protected. I am not going to stay quiet while the daughter of migrant farmworkers is told she does not belong in the country she was raised in. Melissa Hernandez belongs here, and so do the families who built this county.”

“Calling ICE on a public official here in our diverse United States is wrong on so many levels. This is not right at all,” said Hayward City Councilmember Francisco Zermeño.

“I have a message for Senator Wahab: As someone seeking to represent one of the most diverse congressional districts in America, I believe your constituents deserve to know where you stand. Silence in the face of such blatant discrimination can easily be interpreted as indifference. I respectfully ask that you publicly denounce these discriminatory remarks and reaffirm your commitment to treating every community with dignity and respect,” said former Union City Councilmember Jim Navarro.

Hernandez is the daughter of migrant farmworkers and one of seven children. She put herself through California State University, East Bay, became the first Latina Mayor of Dublin and the first Latina mayor in Tri-Valley history, and serves today as President of the BART Board of Directors.

To learn more about Melissa Hernandez and her campaign, visit melissahernandez2026.com.

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California’s 14th Congressional District lies entirely within Alameda County in California’s East Bay, encompassing the cities of Hayward, Livermore, Pleasanton, and Union City in full, along with portions of Castro Valley, Dublin, Fremont, and San Leandro. The district has roughly 429,000 registered voters; 50% Democrats, 27% with no party preference, and 18% Republicans. CA-14 residents are approximately 40% Asian, 24% Latino, 23% non-Hispanic White, and 5% Black, with the remainder multiracial, Pacific Islander, or Native American. There are two upcoming general elections, a special general election on August 18, 2026, to complete the term vacated by former Rep. Eric Swalwell (running through January 2027), and the regular general election on November 3, 2026, for the full term beginning January 2027.