Why Latinos were wrong to vote Trump

Donald Trump won the US presidential election by appealing to voters of all ethnicities and backgrounds. But Esteban Boruel-Lopez, 18, from Eastbourne College, argues that Hispanics and Latinos may soon come to regret their choice.

Stunned. One word can sum up political experts’ reaction to the sheer dominance of Donald Trump in last month’s presidential election. It was projected to be a remarkably close affair between him and Kamala Harris. In the end, he won every single swing state. However, on deeper analysis, the Republican’s monumental victory was inspired by a sleeping giant in US elections: the HispanicRefers to peoples, countries or cultures linked to Spain. Often used to talk about people from or descended from Latin American countries. and LatinoSomeone who lives in the US and who comes from, or whose family comes from, Latin America. population.

Today, Hispanic and Latino people represent nearly one fifth of the American population.¹ It makes them the largest ethnic minorityPeople from racial or ethnic groups who do not belong to the most common group in a society. in the USA — and their vote a key prize for politicians. Last month, Trump managed to garner 45% of their vote, an increase of 13% from his loss in 2020. This was key for determining the result in swing states, such as Arizona and Pennsylvania, which have large Hispanic and Latino populations.

You might be surprised. Trump’s stance on immigration at the USA-Mexico border is famously tough. He claims he will launch the largest deportation in US history. Stereotypically, experts (and I) have believed that the Democrats, with their more lenient stance on immigration, will sweep up Hispanic and Latino votes.

So why didn’t they? One statistic can give us a good starting point: two-thirds of American-born Latino voters did not believe Trump was referring to them when speaking about deporting immigrants.² They identify more as American than Hispanic or Latino.

Remove immigration, and the economy became the key deciding factor for this electorate’s voting stance. “At the end of the day, you have to pay the bills, and you have to feed your family,” explains UnidosUSThe United States’s largest Latino nonprofit civil rights and advocacy organisation. senior immigration policy advisor. In an interview conducted by NBC News, Pennsylvania voter Regino Cruz, who is of Puerto Rican descent, said that he voted for Trump, believing the former president could improve the economy. “For me, it’s work. It’s the economy. It’s groceries.” said Cruz.

We should not be too simplistic. Experts such as Sonja Díaz, founder and leader of the Latina Futures 2050 Lab, theorise that Republican victories are due to the party’s upholding of the traditional Mexican values of “God, family, and country”.

The influx of drugs such as fentanylA powerful synthetic opioid. It can be very deadly. could be another factor. It is not just people crossing the Mexican border. Many Latinos migrated to the USA to escape the effects of drug trafficking; now they want stricter border policies to prevent it from scourging their new home.

Overall, this unprecedented presidential victory was largely achieved by Trump’s gains among Latino voters, including historic wins in places such as Starr County, Texas — a border county that had voted Democratic for 100 years — and in Miami-Dade, Florida, which went red for the first time in more than 30 years. Yet, I feel that the 45% of Hispanics and Latinos who voted for Trump could come to regret this decision, especially with Trump’s nomination of Tim Homan as the new “border czar” and head of ICEIn the USA, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. . Homan has rigorously strict views on immigration and claims he would be open to separating Central American families. Many Hispanic and Latino families may find they get caught in the crossfire.

Keywords

Hispanic – Refers to peoples, countries or cultures linked to Spain. Often used to talk about people from or descended from Latin American countries.

Latino – Someone who lives in the US and who comes from, or whose family comes from, Latin America.

Ethnic minority – People from racial or ethnic groups who do not belong to the most common group in a society.

UnidosUS – The United States’s largest Latino nonprofit civil rights and advocacy organisation.

Fentanyl – A powerful synthetic opioid. It can be very deadly.

ICE – In the USA, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.