The show aired in October 2011, at a moment of intensifying speculation about the president’s political calculus. Was Obama trying to prove his toughness to earn Republican support for comprehensive reform? “There’s no quid pro quo,” Muñoz answered, ceding nothing. Hinojosa read a dramatic statement by Obama from the campaign trail, about communities being terrorized by ICE. “I was there when he said that,” Muñoz replied. “That’s exactly why we need to reform immigration law.” But the president, she added, couldn’t just ignore the law in the meantime. “That’s not how a democracy works.”
