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Hispanic business leaders gathered Wednesday in West Palm Beach to champion the economic contributions of foreign-born workers, picking up the beleaguered banner of immigration reform four months after President Donald Trump stormed the White House in a campaign launched with a blistering attack on rapists and criminals from Mexico.

We stand here a stones throw from the southern White House, said West Palm Beach attorney Lazaro Mur, referring to Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort. What we want is a message of rational immmigration reform that makes economic sense, not irrational mass deportations that make so sense at all.

In the primaries a year ago, Trump took a populist route straight past the GOPs corporate and establishment wing, which largely supported a path to citizenship for 12 million undocumented immigrants. A flurry of arrests and deportations early in his administration clearly sent a message, though executive orders have been tied up in court challenges and Congress has been slow to pony up money for a border wall.

Mainstream (FAKE) media refuses to state our long list of achievements, including 28 legislative signings, strong borders & great optimism! Trump tweeted April 29.

About one in five of Floridas 20 million residents was born abroad, according to research cited Wednesday. They paid $23.4 billion in taxes and wielded $73 billion in spending power in 2014.

The briefing was organized by New American Economy, a coalition of business leaders and mayors launched by Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch to influence public opinion and policymakers toward comprehensive immigration reform.

The event was part of the national Map the Impact campaign, featuring data on Americas foreign-born population in all 50 states and 435 congressional districts.

For example, immigrants represent 185,000 people, or 25 percent of a congressional district that stretches from Wellington to Pompano Beach and is currently represented by U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach. They paid $1.2 billion in taxes and carried $4.1 billion in spending power.

One of those foreign-born immigrants is Dina Rubio, co-owner of Don Ramon Cuban Restaurant on South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, which hosted Wednesdays proceedings. She came from Nicaragua in 1981 to escape problems in that country, figuring she would return in a year or so, she said.

This became my country, Rubio said. I became part of this culture. This is my place now.

Julio Fuentes, president and CEO of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said goals include a streamlined process employers can use to vet workers and a positive dialogue for immigration reform.

Trump made immigration an unmistakeable centerpiece on his campaign from the moment of his announcement speech in June 2015, openly calling out Mexicans who entered the country illegally.

When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best, Trump said. Theyre not sending you. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

Trump continued, Its coming from more than Mexico. Its coming from all over South and Latin America, and its coming probably probably from the Middle East. But we dont know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we dont know whats happening. And its got to stop and its got to stop fast.

Many were outraged at what they considered a racist slap, and several corporations cut ties with Trump. But it resonated in the GOP primary polls with rank-and-file voters tired of what they viewed as politically-correct failures to address serious social and safety problems. Fort Lauderdale-based Republican blogger and author Javier Manjarres said at the time, What he said was very crude. As a Hispanic, I didnt get offended because I knew exactly what he was saying.

At a swearing-in ceremony for new citizens in West Palm Beach in January, opinions were not uniform about Trumps immigration stance.

I feel its great, said Daniel Cohen, 56, of Boca Raton. Terrorism is a big problem in his original home: Im an Israeli Jew.

Carino Severino, 24, a teacher from Fellsmere in Indian River County who came from Mexico at age 4: Im happy. I feel like Im an American now. At the same time, she said, Im scared. I dont want my family and friends to be sent back to Mexico.

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Hispanic leaders pitch reform vs. 'irrational' Trump immigration plan - Palm Beach Post