ENSPIRING.ai: How Latinos Will Impact the Election - Full Documentary - VOCES - Latino Vote 2024 - PBS
The video highlights the burgeoning political influence of Latino voters in the United States, stressing the diversity within the Hispanic community and its critical role in the 2024 presidential election. This new wave of Latino voters, many participating for the first time, could become decisive in determining the country's political direction. It discusses significant demographic changes in the Latino community, emphasizing how Latinos are not a monolithic group but a diverse assembly of cultures and focuses on issues such as immigration reform and economic challenges facing Latinos today.
This content underscores the potential of Latinos to sway U.S. politics due to their growing numbers and varied political tendencies. The narrative also depicts an internal struggle within both major political parties as they attempt to capture the Latino vote, with differing approaches to immigration reform, economic policies, and social issues like abortion and gun control. The potential shift of Latino evangelical voters towards conservative ideologies is also explored amidst the backdrop of America's contemporary political landscape.
Main takeaways from the video:
Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.
Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:
1. tsunami [tsuːˈnɑːmi] - (noun) - A large, often overwhelming surge or influx. - Synonyms: (flood, surge, upsurge)
That is a tsunami of new voters coming, meaning Latinos will be the decision makers.
2. polarization [ˌpoʊlərəˈzeɪʃən] - (noun) - The process or state of causing people or groups to divide into contrasting or opposing groups. - Synonyms: (division, divergence, separation)
Latino evangelicals were exhausted of the polarization.
3. galvanize [ˈɡælvəˌnaɪz] - (verb) - To stimulate or excite someone into taking action. - Synonyms: (motivate, spur, inspire)
But anytime there's an abortion issue on the ballot that galvanizes Latinas to go out and vote.
4. intertwined [ˌɪntərˈtwaɪnd] - (adjective) - Closely connected or associated. - Synonyms: (interwoven, connected, linked)
The destiny of the United States is intertwined with the destiny of the latino community like never before.
5. mobilize [ˈmoʊbəˌlaɪz] - (verb) - To assemble and prepare (people or things) for active service or use. - Synonyms: (marshal, rally, prepare)
And so the strategy is mobilize Latinos in support of good policies and in opposition to bad policies.
6. decisive [dɪˈsaɪsɪv] - (adjective) - Having the power or quality of deciding; conclusive. - Synonyms: (conclusive, determining, final)
Latinos are going to be decisive in 2024.
7. erosion [ɪˈroʊʒən] - (noun) - The gradual destruction or diminution of something. - Synonyms: (wearing away, attrition, destruction)
And when the support for Republicans started going down, Democrats benefited from that erosion
8. orthodoxy [ˈɔːrθəˌdɑːksi] - (noun) - Authorized or generally accepted theory, doctrine, or practice. - Synonyms: (conformism, convention, tradition)
I don't know that I've ever seen a party pivot as strongly and decisively away from. Away from its orthodoxy.
9. skepticism [ˈskɛptɪˌsɪzəm] - (noun) - Doubt as to the truth of something. - Synonyms: (doubt, disbelief, mistrust)
There is a lot of skepticism about the latino vote.
10. capitulation [kəˌpɪtʃəˈleɪʃən] - (noun) - The action of surrendering or ceasing to resist an opponent or demand. - Synonyms: (surrender, concession, yielding)
...but basically, it was a capitulation by the Democrats to give the Republicans everything they wanted.
How Latinos Will Impact the Election - Full Documentary - VOCES - Latino Vote 2024 - PBS
In 2024, one out of every five Latino voters who are going to cast a ballot are going to be doing so for the first time in a presidential election. That is a tsunami of new voters coming, meaning Latinos will be the decision makers. And who becomes the next president of the United States? Nobody speaks for the great diversity of Hispanics. We are Venezuelans and Cubans and Dominicans and Puerto Ricans and Mexicans and US born Latinos. So politicians in America, when they attempt to put Latinos in one block, good luck with that.
I believe that we are the future of the Republican Party because Hispanics have always been conservative. A lot of people saying the Republicans are making all these inroads with Latinos. Everybody's shifting to Republicans. But now with Kamala Harris, it's anybody's boggart. Latino evangelicals were exhausted of the polarization. We want immigration reform that treats people humanely. People think that Latinos are extremely anti-abortion. But anytime there's an abortion issue on the ballot that galvanizes Latinas to go out and vote. The destiny of the United States is intertwined with the destiny of the Latino community like never before.
Latinos are turning out at historic numbers, and we are going to shift the direction of this country. America needs the values of our Hispanic citizens. We need those values to be expressed at the polls and through our political system. Me gusta habla espanol. We welcome diversity in this country. For the first time in history, there is a Latina on the bench of the highest court in Atlanta. They're legal aliens. They're taking their jobs from our Hispanic population. You're the reason why, in large part, I beat Donald Trump. I need you. I need you badly. I need the help. We can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border, she said.
Winning. We love our Hispanics. Get out and vote. The Republican platform promises to launch the largest deportation operation in the history of our country. For a very long time, there's been this narrative that Latinos don't belong in this country, that they are a recent addition, even though Latinos have been part of the country since its very beginnings. And so that perception has created this sense that the majority of Latinos are immigrant and undocumented, when the reality is that out of every ten Latinos in our country, eight are United States citizens.
Latinos are now the second largest voting age population in the country. And it is expected that around 17 and a half million Latinos are going to be voting for 20% of these voters. This is going to be their first presidential election. The highest concentrations of Latino voters are going to be in places like California, Texas, and Florida. But Latinos will also be decisive in places where we are seeing extremely thin margins, and even a small population can tip the balance.
Good morning, everybody. I first came to the Lehigh Valley, to Allentown in the early two thousands. There were Latinos here. But back then, we were probably 20% of the community. Fast forward 20 years, now we are 55% of the community. The majority of the Latino population in the country is from Mexican descent. The east coast is a little different. It's mostly Dominicans and Puerto Ricans.
We could definitely decide who the next president is. We can definitely decide who the next governor is, who the next senator is. We, the Latino community, have that power right now in the state of Pennsylvania. You know, it's funny because a lot of people ask me, so what is the Latino one? What does the Latino community want? We want the same thing you want to make sure that we are employed, to make sure that we got good jobs, good paying jobs.
You're such a good big sister. I'm proud of you. She loves him. Can I get high five? High five. Living situations like the cost of living is just ridiculous. Ridiculous. Like, they want three to four times the income. There's people that are out here living on $12 minimum wage. It's the way the government is running things nowadays.
Here in Allentown, every block is very different. But the higher up in the numbers you go, the better it looks. And the lower you go in the numbers on our streets, it gets worse. Yeah. So these are brand new apartments that are built, and our community can't even get in these apartments, any of the housing that is in center city. Allentown is not affordable for our community.
So you can see how they feel like they're being pushed out of some place where it was their home. My husband and I, we're Puerto Rican, and we go to Puerto Rico twice a year, minimum. So for Johannes Cafe, the concert came from bringing a little part of what's home to Milwaukee. Oh, my God. And that's what we like, this business. This is our baby. It's gonna be like five years. And, you know when you think it's like, okay, finally survived first year, the second year, and then, you know, the economy hits, and then it's like, okay, so what happens now?
Things have gone up. Tripled and quadrupled oil. When we opened, it was like $16. The container now is like $52, but we can't charge quadruple for our products. We can't do that. So we're struggling because it's like, it's not adding up. The math is not adding up. Okay? I'm not even, like a Democrat or a Republican at this point. It's just like something's gotta be done with the economy. It's affecting small businesses in a way that people have no idea.
We like what we do. I have a responsibility because our employees have bills to pay, but if somebody gives us enough money to pay what we owe and at least have three months of sleep, I think I would consider selling it is what it is. There's this out of touch element that we're hearing from Washington right now about how great things are from the traditional economic metrics.
Let me put it this way. Interest rates have tripled in the last four years. It's completely shut down both the home buying and home construction industries. The US dollar has been devalued by about 25% over the last four years with inflation quantifiably. You are worse off now if you're at the middle or lower income level than you were four years ago.
He's all, yeah, you're the fisherman. Cheers, everybody. To Moore park. Friends. To family. To tradition. Guys, is the country getting better or worse? I think it's getting worse. Worse. So many of us have said, like, we were just so lucky to grow up here in the time that we did. Yeah.
Because I feel like middle class is being squeezed out. Yes, Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the blue collar workforce, but the consolidation of the Democratic party is largely amongst wealthier, white, home owning progressives. And they are animated by cultural issues, not economic issues. On the other hand, the Republican Party is becoming the party of the working class.
And the struggle of working class people in this country is getting more dire. And so that becomes the decision making point. They may believe Donald Trump is racist, they may believe the Republican Party is anti immigrant. They may not like that. But are there policies that I'm going to have to live with because of the immediacy of my economic condition? You know, came out in the news that the medium for someone to have a house in California is 900,000. It's, what do we do?
Do I have to work till I'm 80? The younger generation, like my nephews and nieces who are now in their thirties, they want money. They're voting for Trump. God bless Donald J. Trump. Illegal aliens. They're taking the jobs from our black population, our Hispanic population.
This is like a Trump rally on steroids. This is like a thousand Trump rallies together I keep running into lots of people that are Latino, and I'm Hispanic. I'm Latino. So it's great being able to show that form of diversity within the Republican Party. This is the party of the big ten. Thank you guys for being out here. We love mtDs. You invited a bunch of. I have to come to my seat. You killed for oil. The Hispanic vote, despite popular belief, is not an automatic plug for the Democrats. This is not in this election.
Our polling shows that President Trump carries significant momentum amongst Latino voters. Super important. President Trump will win the Hispanic vote. A lot of times. The reason why they voted Democrat in the past is because of lack of information. They've been told that the Democrat party is the party of the poor, which they are. They're the party of poverty. All they do is create poverty. And the Republican Party, we're the party of prosperity. We want to strengthen the economy, we want safer communities.
So it's so important that we do have a massive deportation to those that come to this country to commit crimes because they tarnish the Hispanic community and also those who immigrate here to do the right thing. President Trump shares our values. The JD Vance shares our values. And that's what matters to me the most. This is my first convention ever. I hope in the next four years that, you know, half of this convention is Hispanic. I want more Latinos throughout the United States to join the Republican Party, because we need that representation to groom that next generation of elected leadership from the Latino community. It's exciting to see the kind of leadership that we're getting now in the halls of Congress. That means we are on the inside looking out now.
We are. We have taken ownership of the American electoral process. Latino growth in Pennsylvania has been absolutely incredible. The name Libre, of course, is Spanish for free. Free people, a free nation, a free market. Capitalism, if you will. When we started the Libre initiative, we wanted to be in the business of being a part of the community by considering their priorities, what their needs were.
The Libre initiatives, funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, was formed to help Republicans reach out to Latino voters across the country. Through our c three, we've helped thousands get their driver's license. Thousands learn English, but also letting them know what our priorities are. When we have about 800,000 to a million Latinos in the state, we get to that endgame. We are now the largest swing voting bloc in the country.
And so what we want to do is influence Latinos in support of conservative or center right policies. She is the first Mexican born immigrant to be elected as a congresswoman. Thank you. I'm so proud of you. Thank you. Are you ready to take back our country? Hispanics have always been conservative. It's in our DNA. And I believe that we are the future of the Republican Party.
In the end of the day, we get across that message, that this candidate that espouses these ideas is the choice you should make. And so the strategy is mobilize Latinos in support of good policies and in opposition to bad policies, or you will pay the price we will see in 2024 and what follows if we are indeed seeing a trend of Latinos turning more to the Republican side. But to speak of a realignment, which is what some folks have said is just not supported by the data. If you look at Latinos historically, about two thirds of their support ended up going to Democrats and about one third to Republicans.
The high water mark on the Republican side was achieved by George W. Bush, who hit 40% of the Latino vote. And when the support for Republicans started going down, Democrats benefited from that erosion. But Democrats didn't solidify that to their column. And so what you've seen in the last couple of cycles is Republicans getting back to their 30% or so. But traditionally, that was the norm. And so if you don't know the context, you arrive at the wrong conclusion.
We got a lot of Hispanics. We love our Hispanics. Get out and vote. Politics is not static. It's dynamic. What folks, again, don't realize, there is a political calculus that they do, expecting the Latino community to be ultra conservative. And when they get to the ballot box, the opposite is true. Arizona will soon be the latest state with a near total abortion ban.
After that state's supreme court revived a one 60 year old law, the conservative majority wrote, quote, positions are now on notice that all abortions, except those necessary to save a woman's life, are illegal. Latinas are the largest group of women of color affected, affected by current and future state abortion bans and restrictions, as more than four in ten Latinas of reproductive age live in the nearly two dozen states where officials are working to make abortion inaccessible.
People think that Latinos are extremely anti abortion, but the majority of Latinas voters today, they're in their prime of deciding what their future holds. And so anytime there's an abortion issue on the ballot that galvanizes Latinas to go out and vote. We're supposed to be at the Capitol right now because there's a bill that was introduced, and they're hearing it on the floor today, and we have a pretty good feeling that we can get it through. And so that's happening right now.
After a contentious battle at the Capitol, it leads to the state Senate eventually voting to repeal that near total abortion. Bandaid, two Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in repealing that law. So it just got through. And honestly, like, this is a really huge moment. I want to be clear with the people of Arizona. If we do not have our rights protected in the constitution, we do not have rights.
And as we heard on the Senate floor today, they will still continue to look for every path and every avenue to prevent us from accessing the care that we deserve. Let's get politicians like our maggot Republicans out of those decisions. The greatest thing that I want my Latino community to understand is that we should be trusted to make the choices that is best for us and our family. And when you have restrictions like this on the books, that's not allowed to happen.
Hispanic evangelicals are historically pro life. But this is not a political ideology for us. This is a moral understanding of where life begins and life ends. People may disagree with us, but we stand firm on that conviction. But we also stand firm on we don't just care about life in the womb. I saw the Lord, and he heard and he answered, I saw.
So this is a holistic view of pro life, because for Jesus, the least, the last, and the lost are important, and that is our approach. A seamless thread of life from the womb to the Tomberto. Dominicanos, Venezuelanos, Cubanos, Latino evangelicals were about nine or 10 million. Obviously, not all are voting age, and some of them are undocumented immigrants. What is the sin of sodom? In Gomorrah, in Ezekiel? The Bible says that the sin that they had is that they did not welcome the foreigner.
The message from the Trump administration is we do not consent to an invasion of this country from millions of people who shouldn't be here. And we are going to deport people. They're poisoning the blood of our country. That's what they've done. For Latino evangelicals, it's lamentable, because when you begin to allude to the US system being poisoned by the blood of immigrants, unacceptable. I think Latino evangelicals in many ways have similarities with white evangelical counterparts. We're historically pro life. We believe in religious liberty.
But on immigration, the truth is we've led the way, and we've invited white evangelicals to join us in that. And some have and some haven't. But we want a nuanced response that is bipartisan and that is humane. Because as pastors we are the moral conscience of this nation, and we cannot allow slights against communities to go unaddressed. Republicans have a problem with Latino evangelicals because of immigration.
The Democrats have a problem with Latino evangelicals because of faith. In the past few elections, you see Latinos in spite of. Of very strong anti immigrant rhetoric from certain quarters, you see Latinos shifting more and more towards conservative ideology. What drives Latinos to go that way? In spite of the rhetoric? It's faith and family. Oh, my gosh. Yay.
And at the end of the day, we know that all the glory goes back to you, God. So we are grateful. We are thankful, God. When I met Mister Trump, I shared with him the fact that, you know, I would love to see you, sir, really elevate the truth that immigrants are a blessing to America. But we want people to come here legally. You come in here illegally, we're going to deport you back to your country, your nation of origin.
And that initiated a relationship that resulted in yours truly being invited as the first Latino evangelical in American history. In a presidential inauguration, I call Reverend doctor Samuel Rodriguez to provide readings and the invocation. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
From this day forward, it's going to be only America first. America first. In 2016, I saw that a lot of Latino evangelicals, you know, rallied behind Trump. But undocumented immigrants form part of our community. So what we're going to do. Yes, come to my church, yet I'm not gonna advocate for you. Isn't that hypocrisy? Yes. I'm gonna love you until election time comes from saludable.
A lot of Latino evangelicals, you know, they tend to lean conservative, but they also care for justice issues, for the poor, for the marginalized. They're invested in making sure that Latino evangelicals, undocumented immigrants have a path to citizenship. The political arena has divided the church, but we need to mobilize patiently. I will think the Lord has called you.
We have no choice. We have to do this work. We have no choice, Father. We come in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and we pray for this nation, Father. And we pray for tomorrow, God, that there will be nothing in their way so that we can meet together in Tallahassee, and we can speak to people that are in high position. For two consecutive years, we've been going out to Tallahassee, to the state capitol. This year, we're calling out a bill that actually intends to incarcerate undocumented amigos who drive without a license.
Florida has been very hostile to our immigrant community, and out of that pain, a movement of churches is going to rise up to say, we want justice for all. How you doing, Bishop Nito? So we meet with Stassi. Deputy Secretary Stassi. We want to meet with Stassi. He hasn't met with us. Latino, another group. Okay.
Will you mind at least asking him to see if he was willing to meet with Latino evangelicals? We represent 2500 churches in the state. Or Latino evangelicals. This is bishop, can we, can we, can we hand some letters? Yeah, I want to drop out some letters here. We want to drop off letters for the governor. So the governor receives probably 90% of our vote and we never get a chance to speak to him. 2500 churches. So hopefully one day we can meet with him.
Some of them, you know, mean well. They want to do the right thing, but they get caught up in this rhetoric that if you stand against immigration, you're going to get the vote. But, you know, what happened to DeSantis, you know, even with that hard rhetoric that he had, he was not successful at a national level, because that's a message to Florida and to the nation. The message to go forward is love, not hatred and division. Cadaver polaris misma viejas narrativa sobre no solomental frau de electoral. El great replacement, el grand rem plazo e que ayun parti immigrante para de formebo tar porrellos jo travojavano comprados por el chavismo. Eso significosura de pido de perio investigation nomas platformers de fact checkingo dumpos parajutificar el maltra tarnos anosotrosido. Claro. That's it.
El verdadero huicio final vacher el cinco de noviembre, el dia de la helixiones y el poderese. One of the things that happens is that when the immigration debate gets toxic, Latinos have also been targeted simply because of who they are as a result of toxic narratives and rhetoric. The El Paso massacre happened not on a whim. It was someone who was inspired by then President Trump tweeting about a Mexican invasion and the poisoning of the blood. And so gun violence has also become a lot more pressing than it used to be.
My family comes from south Texas, and everybody owns firearms. The joke down there is the first time you get your first tricycle. It comes with a gun. Rack. Right. It's okay to own a gun. And does it make you a bad person? I own them. I love them. It's a huge source of enjoyment. It's a way of life. I grew up hunting with my family, so you're going to see all the firearms we have are related to hunting, but there's a big difference between doing that and taking on the streets intending to do harm to somebody else.
I graduated from college a Reagan Republican, and, you know, I believe in party loyalty and those types of things. But when the former president came on the scene and started using the type of rhetoric that was literally inspiring hate crimes and attacks on people of Hispanic descent, and that's when I formally renounced my membership and became an independent. Latinos are more than two times more likely than their white counterparts to be shot and wounded by a firearm. And when you see the number of mass shootings taking place, that's why the issue has really become so critical in the Latino community.
At Ford Latino, we are a clearing house where we provide a lot of assistance to victims of hate crimes. We receive calls on almost a weekly basis of individuals who feel they've been threatened and in most cases, attacked. And sadly, we know we're not even catching a fraction. More times than not, the victims are US citizens with prominent Hispanic features or Hispanic surnames. He starts argue, why you came here, invade my country, why you came here illegally. Sir, you don't know my status.
But this has all really come up to a whole new level with extremist and false rhetoric and remarks that are being made by Donald Trump. And I'd love to ask him and will why he allowed millions of people to come in here from prisons, jails, and mental institutions to come into our country and destroy our country. Now, we'll never be able to directly link this to the words spoken the debate. But the following day, not even 24 hours later, in Crete, Nebraska, an entire family, including four children, one of which was three years old, and three adults, were shot by their neighbor.
The suspect had slipped them off, told them to go home or back to where they came from to speak English. The most difficult part to overcome is when you're in the room with these people and you see what they've gone through, and they're every bit as American as anybody else, and people think they have the right to dehumanize them. From 2018 to 2021, our community was impacted 48%, an increase in gun violence compared to the rest of the population that have experienced a 22%. Now, we recognize that any gun violence among any community is too much. But the upward tick in our community and no one talks about it is very real.
So this park is called West Park. Community loves this park, but we've actually seen a lot of violence happen in this park. So that's why we like to come here, outreach and canvas, make sure the kids are doing okay, because that is one of our hotspots. We're dealing with a community who is almost every day impacted by gun violence. And when you don't see that your lawmakers are prioritizing that saving lives, your community gets angry.
Here we go. This is our healing wall. And on our healing wall, we actually have my uncle on here who I lost at nine years old. He was murdered in 2012 in his home. My Uncle Kareem, he was the protector of the family, but he was 17 years old, and he was part of a gang. My grandmother was coming out of work, and she found his body. You know, it was very hard to deal with.
But what really motivated me after his passing was my grandmother, Jeannie Garcia. She really was looking into the systems that affected her, the family. And then she actually started talking to our city council, joining city council meetings, mind you, this was something that we never did as a family before. And they started calling her actually the mother of Allentown.
Did you? Yeah. You must know I'm the feisty one, huh? My voting experience started shortly after losing my son. I vote for every primary, every election, even if it's city council, I'm voting. If I would have been this involved with community, my son would still be alive today. Sally being my granddaughter, she has built her pain into purpose also, and she's an elected official here in our school district.
Because one of the reasons that we want Zallie and leadership is because we say what programs, policies, and practices will always reflect the values of the people that design them. If Zali doesn't sit at the head of the table and I don't sit at the head of the table, there's a dude in a red hat that's gonna sit at the head of the table. Somebody gonna say, I got this, don't worry. And people gonna follow them.
You know, it's my first time voting. And I just hope that whatever we decide as a country, even if we have a candidate that doesn't keep the promises that they made, I hope that as a community and as a country, that we all come together and understand that your communities have so much power. I think in the next four years, whoever does the become president, we have to take care of our city, we are the ones that have to take care of. Nobody's gonna save us. Don't you say that, doc. Nobody's coming.
Nobody's coming to save us. No, nobody's coming to save us. But we're gonna have to save our city. You gotta step up. That's why we're here. The only added responsibility I feel when it comes to voting is letting people understand the importance of it, because in my community, too, you don't really see people going and filling out the application to be able to vote. Some people don't even know how to work that system.
Latinos are going to be decisive in 2024. That's undeniable. And at the same time, even though Latinos are one of the fastest growing groups in the electorate, we have nearly 13 million who are eligible but are in need of registration. We call that one of the greatest opportunity gaps. We've got the lowest voter participation rates of any race or ethnic group in the country. I mean, for the rest of our lives, there will be a record number of Latinos every presidential election cycle just because there's so many more Latinos.
But we are not matching the turnout rates of other communities. Many of them, including the youngest of them, say that it's not so much that they're not interested, but it's that nobody had ever invited them into the process or they don't know how to go about it. So we are already decisive in many ways. Imagine how much more that could be if we narrowed the voter registration opportunity gap. Every 30 seconds, a Latino youth turns 18 years old.
So there are 4 million young people aging into the electoral base every single four years. So in a place like Arizona, where Biden won by less than 11,000 votes, we're expecting 163,000 Latino youth to turn 18 by November. That's massive opportunity to get them into the game. Excuse me. Hi. By any chance, are you guys registered to vote?
We're not citizens. Oh, you're not? No. Thank you anyways. Hi. By any chance you've registered vote? Don't win that vote. There is a lot of skepticism about the Latino vote. However, what we have seen here in Arizona is that every single election, whether it is a midterm or a general, Latinos are turning out at historic numbers.
And so it is important that they feel like they are embraced when they are ready to participate and ready to voice their vote at the ballot box. This is my first year being able to vote, so I'm kind of excited. Lots of my friends, they wouldn't have voted this year if it wasn't for, like, people assisting us to, like, register. It takes a quick minute. You can get it out of the way. You can get a ballot sent to your house so you wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.
What we have done this year is partnered with Grita Cantay Vota, who are working with artists to promote how important voting is. That has been through concerts by Lando Cantando, Ivo Tando Santa Monta. And this is actually happening across the country. I want to hear a round of applause, really loud from group of control, who are not only a portrait of the Latino family across the United States, it's a family band.
So can we hear a huge welcome, a DC style welcome to Grupo control Queso. Our democracy depends on a thriving group of citizens actively participating. So if you ignite the imagination of a young person that they are part of the political system, they can change the direction not just of their community and their family, but of the country. Lawrence.
Oh, they say, Lawrence. Are you guys ready to storm the United center? The moment that Kamala Harris went on the ticket, we went from registering 60 to 100 voters a day to that first week of registering 8000 voters a day. Senore Elajo de la Manuel in Chicago, la covertura de la convention. We take phone calls. You see the comments on Facebook, people saying they're coming out to vote for her. And now they have a choice injection of energy that you see nationally. I can tell you I've seen it with my audience locally in Pennsylvania, Vice President knocked it out of the park with her selection for vice presidential nominee.
Like me, he's a hunter, so I think he'll do a great job of articulating the need for responsible common sense gun violence prevention measures. We have a woman of color that is running for the president. This sends out a very strong message to all of our community because knowing that someone that looks like us can actually be the president of the United States of America, we can make it happen. Sisa Pueblo, thank you so much.
Great inspiration for us young Mexican Americans here. Young Latinos are paying more attention. They're more enthusiastic, and they're probably more likely to vote in November than we could have said five weeks ago. If you're an immigrant family just starting your American story, Kamala is for you. We will make history and elect Kamala Harris president Vota.
How are things going there in Chicago? Chuck, you're there. You've been a part of the festivities there. How's it feel? They're on the floor. There's just more energy. Is that going to relate into more vote? Latino vote is back. We're going to win. We're going to lose. I just know that there's just a palpitable. I think I said that right. More energy around everything. 30 days ago, I was having to call Democrats not to jump off the top of buildings.
We had a Democratic party and a base and a Latino electorate that was not motivated to show up. Enthusiasm was at an all time lower than I seen it in my 34 years of running campaigns. Folks were just not excited to vote for Joe Biden. Compare this to 2020. The Bernie Sanders campaign inspired a whole new generation of Latinos and young activists to be involved in their own party just because we didn't win overall, there's more and more that came from that than just an election result we keep talking about.
Latinos are so hard to reach. I think what we're doing here at the convention, what the DNC is doing, is the perfect thing to reach this younger electorate, to at least give them the option to see what are the Democrats even talking about? And do you like it? There's 200 content creators sitting in the front couple rows of the convention who are tiktoking this and who are folks with lots of followers who then the next day, if they're not involved in politics, they will see somebody else talking about that.
But again, it's the hat tip to the community. You can say you don't like TikTok. Great. Don't like it. But that's where our people are. The way we campaign, the way we communicate is fundamentally different. And it does seem for the moment that there has at least been some very significant strides that have been made. It is remarkable to hear a DNC crowd with the USA.
USA chant, taking away this peculiar fascination that Republicans have, thinking they own these things. They own the flag, they own the USA chants. I thought I was watching the Republican convention in the 1980s. I fought against the cartels who trafficking guns and drugs and human beings who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities. One of the things that's been really fascinating is that to make themselves competitive for this election, Democrats made a pivot on immigration. I don't know that I've ever seen a party pivot as strongly and decisively away from.
Away from its orthodoxy, the way the Democrats have just done under a woman of color. It's extraordinary. Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades. The border Patrol endorsed it we want to say that it's a bipartisan bill, and technically, I suppose that's true, but basically, it was a capitulation by the Democrats to give the Republicans everything they wanted. On border security, we can create and earn pathway to citizenship and secure our border from Palestine to Mexico.
These border walls have got to go from Palestine to Mexico. We have waited too long for the promise of immigration reform for 11 million essential workers and their families who worked in the pandemic, yet are not treated as the heroes they are. We call on Harris and Walts to deliver on immigration reform in the first 100 days of the new administration. Si se puede Puerto Rico. Immigration is a very important issue because so many Latinos have someone in their family who's impacted or a friend for our community. We know what deportation is like.
You know, we know how that, you know, how that affects the children, how that, you know, causes emotional trauma. So the North Star has been immigration reform. Kamala Harris, necessita reconocer la importantia del voto Latino. No despuez de laurita mismo las promesas por la reforma migratoria necessitamos mas reconnoissimiento pro immigrante para que la gente se anime y salga votar. So many Latinos may be disappointed in the Democratic Party, but Trump, the GOP, have really blamed everything on immigrants.
We are undeniably the target. We have had the experience of, of the prior Trump administration to know that these threats are real policies of family separation. Those were real. The efforts to try to implement policies of mass deportation are real, and that future is not a future that Latinos support or want with Latino voters. Kamala Harris could make further incursions. She could absolutely push Trump into the low thirties, high twenties, which is really where the more historical range would be for a Republican.
She's almost back to where Biden was in 2020. But we need to be clear eyed and sober about this because it's so important. There's a long way to go. The Biden 2020 numbers were not good, and so there's a ways to go before this is truly a race that Kamala Harris can feel both more competitive about and actually good about.
I think as a voter, there's nothing that Kamala has done that has made me want to vote for her because she continues to uphold the genocide that is occurring. This is the number one issue on my mind as a voter, and I will not give my vote up until I see a presidential candidate that comes out in support of the Palestinian people. People. One of the tools to achieve transformational change is to make sure that people are civically engaged. And so we need to understand how important our voice in the different arenas we move in is.
That will always increase our community's agency and the political process. To show up everywhere, including in the voting booth, is only a positive. And what keeps me hopeful is that while politics may be of the moment, this moment is not permanent. And the more of us that participate, the more that tomorrow's moment can be different than the one that we are experiencing today.
Politics, Economics, Global, Latino Community, Voting Influence, Immigration Reform, Pbs
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