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You rarely see people like this on national media. It’s why Univision’s debate is crucial.

In the first hour of Univision’s Democratic debate, Americans got to see why it’s so important for a Hispanic-focused, Spanish-speaking network to host a debate: We got more questions about the candidates’ stances on immigration policy — a so far largely neglected issue — at this debate than any other.

But perhaps no moment showed this more than when an actual victim of deportation policies spoke out, asking the candidates whether they would take steps to reunite her — a Guatemalan immigrant — and her children with her children’s father.

Here was her question, translated from Spanish to English:

I want to ask … I have a big pain, my sons and me, because the father of my children was deported for not having a license. He was a hard-working man in the field of construction. What will you do to stop the deportations and reunite families?

It also produced this touching moment, in which a reporter translated the candidates’ answers for the woman:

You rarely see people and moments like this in mainstream news outlets. It’s why diversity in media — and these debates — is so important.

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