The power of the Latino vote in the 2020 presidential election

When President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, he promised stricter immigration policy. He promised to build a wall along the border with Mexico. Trump also ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which shields unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors from deportation.

Four years later, the U.S. is nearing another presidential election. How will Latinos vote? After Trump’s immigration crackdown and with DACA in danger, will Latino voters flock to Trump’s Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden?

Biden held a virtual event last month for Latina Small Business Owners titled “Nuestros Negocios, Nuestro Futuro” and has spent over $6 million in Spanish-language advertisements in an effort to reach more voters from the Latino Community.

Among eligible voters in 2020, Latinos comprise the largest racial minority group. According to a recent Pew survey, 22% of eligible voters in Generation Z are Latino. Latinos make up only 9% of “Baby Boomers,” who were born between 1946 and 1964.

Rosa Barrientos is an organizer for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and a DACA recipient herself.

“Right when I found out about DACA,” she said, “I knew that my life was going to change forever — and it really did. It opened the doors to get a legal job, get my drivers license… Most importantly DACA has given me the opportunity to live without the fear of being deported.”

Though the Trump Administration’s most recent attempt to end the DACA program was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court, Barrientos said the renewal applications for the program will now have to be sent out every year instead of every two years. These applications cost immigrants $495 dollars every time they are renewed.

Clo Hidalgo, a CSUN graduate student, has been writing her graduate thesis about how Gen Z Latinos vote.

She said research on the Gen Z voters participating in this year’s election is scarce. However, her interviews with Gen Z voters revealed a common concern about climate change. “We need to bring awareness to how important it is for Latinos to vote,” Hildalgo said.

Sara Maldonado is the founder and executive director of Powerful Latinas Rising,. Her organization has pushed to get more Latinas more involved in voting.

“In 2016 there were about 5.5 million Latinas that were eligible to vote that were not registered and did not vote,” Maldonado said. “That’s a huge number and I think the more information we can get out there, the more that we can mobilize our community to get the vote out.”

Maldonado spoke about different resources offered to the Latino community such as “Julia’s List”, which is a directory of Latina-owned businesses. Powerful Latinas Rising also hosts virtual workshops.

Organizations like CHIRLA are doing public outreach by calling people across the state in an effort to get them more involved in voter issues.

Barrientos spoke about the presidential candidates’ efforts to tap into the Latino community.

“They have to do a lot more to reach the Latino community,” Barrientos said. “They’re the ones who are largely ignored and it is a sleeping giant.”

Hidalgo mentioned that many from Gen Z supported Bernie Sanders, who has endorsed Joe Biden, which may sway more younger voters to the Democrat’s side.

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