{"id":13361,"date":"2023-08-08T15:36:21","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T15:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=13361"},"modified":"2023-08-10T19:26:05","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T19:26:05","slug":"how-immigration-battles-are-firing-up-latinos-and-putting-texas-battleground-states-in-play-for-the-presidential-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=13361","title":{"rendered":"How immigration battles are firing up Latinos and putting Texas, battleground states in play for the presidential election"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Alfredo Corchado<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The immigration news is grim: a plan for looming massive family \nroundups for deportations, a report of children detained in America \nwithout enough food and water, and a nation embroiled in debate over \nwhether or not to welcome asylum seekers with open arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruth Gilmer knows what to do. She moved here from her native Mexico decades years ago. She\u2019s angry, but also inspired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not about being Mexican,\u201d said Gilmer, a U.S. citizen for 30\n years who is among the millions of Latinos in the U.S. who are growing \nmore determined than ever to have their voices heard during the primary \nand presidential votes next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is about being humanitarian, caring about your fellow human \nbeing,\u201d said Gilmer, 54, \u201cBut as a Mexican what\u2019s happening along the \nborder and against immigrants in this country, this hurts twice as much.\n The only defense you have is your vote.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the country, Hispanics like Gilmer, a tax accountant born in \nSahuayo in the Mexican state of Michoacan, are increasingly motivated \nand energized to vote, especially in hotly contested states like \nMichigan where she lives. Donald Trump won Michigan\u2019s 16 electoral votes\n by about 10,700 votes in the last presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Democrats to have a chance at recapturing the White House, \nthey\u2019ll need to dominate the Latino vote, especially in crucial states \nlike Michigan and the Lone Star State where two Texans are vying for the\n Democratic nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s crackdown on unauthorized immigration  \u2013 popular among his \nbase \u2013 is expected to fuel a historic turnout among Latinos who may vote\n to try and protect their more vulnerable family and friends. Latinos \nare on pace to become the largest nonwhite voting bloc as more than 32 \nmillion Latino voters will be eligible to cast ballots in the 2020 \npresidential election, surpassing African Americans for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLatinos can make the difference in battleground states like \nMichigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and, of \ncourse, Texas \u2013 that\u2019s where we will see the biggest impact,\u201d said Lydia\n Camarillo, president of the Southwest Voter Education Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt could be in this cycle that Texas turns purple. Voters have a lot\n of choices in candidates, more than 20, but they have two of their \nown,\u201d she said, referring to former Housing Secretary Julian Castro and \nformer U.S Rep. Beto O\u2019Rourke. \u201cIt\u2019s a win-win for Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putting Texas in play<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Texans \u2014 Castro from San Antonio and O\u2019Rourke from El Paso \u2014 are\n part of the lineups for the first Democratic presidential debates, set \nfor Wednesday and Thursday in Miami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Rourke\u2019s political star has dimmed a bit for now, but his political\n muscle in Texas is well entrenched. In one poll he leads all Democratic\n candidates, including front-runner Joe Biden, who edges him out in \nother polls. And his unsuccessful run against Republican incumbent Ted \nCruz for the U.S. Senate is credited for mobilizing hundreds of \nthousands of new voters, particularly younger ones, including Latinos. \nIn the Senate race, Latinos backed O\u2019Rourke over Cruz by nearly 2-to-1, \naccording to the Pew Research Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, O\u2019Rourke\u2019s campaign immediately pounced on Trump\u2019s \ndeportation message, which the president, with a tweet, delayed Saturday\n for at least two weeks to give Democrats and Republicans a chance to \nbroker a deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in the week, O\u2019Rourke\u2019s campaign reminded supporters to \ncontribute, saying \u201cBeto is from El Paso, a city of immigrants, refugees\n and asylum seekers. A city whose story reflects the story of our \nnation. He knows the contributions immigrant communities have made to \nthis country, and he has a unique message to contrast with Donald Trump \non this key moral issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political strategist Jorge Urby, founder of The Glider Group in San \nAntonio, has worked for O\u2019Rourke and is now advising Castro. Both \ncandidates, he said, will be crucial to mobilizing more Latinos in Texas\n and across the country to the ballot box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJulian will have more connection with Latinos because he is Latino, \nbut he\u2019s not well known yet,\u201d he said, adding that Castro and O\u2019Rourke, \nif they\u2019re viable candidates when the primaries start next February, can\n compete for states like Texas, California and Nevada with a possible \nedge for Castro among Hispanic voters. \u201cBeto, give him credit. He really\n energized voters, especially younger ones, and that\u2019s key. He\u2019s from \nthe border and he speaks Spanish, but at the end of the day [not being \nLatino] he can only understand the border and Latinos in a certain way. \nThey grew up so differently, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, Urby added, for Democrats the 2020 election will be more about \n\u201cwho can beat Trump and push back against his policies. Not about who \nthe candidate is. Whoever can do that, win,\u201d will get the backing of \nHispanic voters, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut if the nominee is a Texan, watch out,\u201d he said, then added, \n\u201cThat\u2019s a giant \u2018if.\u2019  Democrats have a lot of work to do in Texas \nbefore we can safely call this a purple state. But there is a new \nenergy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awakening Latino vote<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long considered bears in hibernation, the big political awakening for\n Latinos, especially younger ones, came during last year\u2019s midterm \nelections, according to Pew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hispanic registered voter turnout (and the Asian turnout) increased to about 40% in last year\u2019s midterm elections. That\u2019s a 13% increase over 2014, when turnout rates had declined to record lows. But turnout is key, according to Alex Gonzalez of the Latino Public Policy Foundation. In 2016, about 27 million Hispanics were eligible to vote, but only 11.5 million voted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, voter turnout rates for whites, at 57.5%, and blacks, at \n51.4%, increased by 11.7 and 10.8 percentage points, respectively, since\n 2014, according to Pew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romancing Hispanic voter promises a bigger payback as the first \ndebates get under way thanks to Trump, experts say. His policies remind \nthem of election results in California back in the 1990s and in Arizona \nlast year when Democrats picked up a Senate seat. Anti-immigrant \nmeasures in both states galvanized entire communities to become new \nDemocratic voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be sure, unlike African American voters who tend to vote in \noverwhelming numbers for Democrats, Hispanics are far from being \nmonolithic, experts like Camarillo and others are quick to note. In \nfact, some 28% supported Trump during the 2016 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, Trump\u2019s economy has led to more jobs for more Americans, including Latinos, leading to more employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latinos also tend to be more conservative, and many Latino immigrants\n originate in countries where they\u2019re running away from dictators, or \nleft-leaning governments. The Trump campaign, for instance, is reaching \nout to Cuban Americans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans. Vice President Mike\n Pence is scheduled to announce the Trump campaign\u2019s plan to reach out \nto Hispanics on Tuesday in Miami. Many Latinos also consider themselves \nanti-abortion, making some weary of the Democratic contenders who favor \nabortion rights and bigger government, Urby said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Latinos favor Trump\u2019s call for a wall on the Mexican border to discourage undocumented migration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But experts say the conservative loyalty of many Latinos shouldn\u2019t be\n taken for granted when Trump\u2019s anti-immigrant message targets relatives\n or neighbors of Latino voters. In fact, Trump\u2019s rhetoric appears to be \ndriving up hostility among Hispanics, making it harder for other \nRepublican candidates to secure their support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cScapegoating Latinos is a bad strategy,\u201d Camarillo said. \u201cThis has \nled to an impressive growth among Latino voters,\u201d despite, she added, a \nlack of \u201cinvestment on the part of political parties, wealthy donors, \nincluding unions,\u201d she said, noting that Democrats need to do more to \ncapitalize on Hispanic support, especially in battleground states. \nBiden, for example, has received pushback by Latinos for not doing \nenough to court them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others experts agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe 2018 midterm election was a referendum on Trump, and the very \nclear message of Hispanic voters, who overwhelmingly supported \nDemocratic candidates for Congress, was that they disapprove of the \ncurrent administration,\u201d added Melissa Michelson, professor of political\n science at Menlo College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGiven his track record of rhetoric and policies, I don\u2019t think \nthere\u2019s much chance that Hispanic support for Trump will improve by next\n November, so we might see strong Hispanic turnout in favor of whoever \nends up getting the Democratic nomination,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to \nsee higher than usual turnout among Hispanic voters next year, \nregardless of who gets the nomination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2020 election, according to Pew, Hispanics will be the largest\n minority group in the electorate, accounting for more than 13% of \neligible voters, surpassing African Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Luevanos, 78, has lived in her southwest neighborhood in \nDetroit, otherwise known as Mexicantown, for much of her life. Talk of a\n history of deportations runs deep in her state, all the way back to \nwhen Mexicans worked at the Ford Motor Co. for $5 a day. The jobs were \nso attractive that Mexicans came by the hundreds, if not thousands, from\n central Mexico and parts of Texas. Many Hispanics also ended up doing \nagriculture work, including picking cherries in Traverse City, a \ntradition that continues today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But over the generations, deportations have also pushed family, \nfriends and neighbors back to Mexico, past and current signs of a fickle\n country. Even so, Luevanos is hopeful, she says, because of dozens of \nyoung people who walk around her neighborhood registering Hispanics to \nvote, hoping to turn them into a powerful political bloc capable of \ndefending themselves against politicians who they say are simply using \nthem for political theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where my hope lies, in the young people,\u201d said Luevanos, a visual art storyteller. \u201cI tell them, vote like your life is depended on that, and these days it is. We should all walk around with pads to register people to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alfredo Corchado is Border-Mexico correspondent for the Dallas Morning News and author of Homelands: Four Friends, Two Countries, and the Fate of the Great Mexican-American Migration.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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