Latino voters are optimistic

By Cruz Garcia
Real Clear Wire

Last week, President Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, kicking off the next phase of his siege on illegal immigration. Forty-six Democratic congress members and twelve Democratic senators supported the Act, which mandates the detention of unauthorized immigrants accused of theft and/or violent crime. And as hard as it might be to believe, Latino communities like mine are breathing a huge sigh of relief.

It’s not what you’d expect from recent news coverage. Headlines rife with buzzwords like “raids,” “roundups,” and “purge” are being used to caricature President Trump’s law-and-order approach to immigration and pin it as a rally against immigrant communities, largely Latino ones.

I used to buy this narrative when I was a child, and for good reason: My undocumented grandfather was arrested for charges related to marijuana possession. Yes, he broke the law, but he wasn’t hurting anyone. He was targeted because he was undocumented. “La Migra” became the boogeyman of my childhood nightmares. My cousins and I even made it the villain of our playground games – tag, hide-and-seek, cops and robbers. These innocent pastimes mirrored the terrifying stories we heard of immigration agents raiding community dances, schools, churches, libraries, or any space where the few Mexicans of our Midwestern town congregated.

Today, however, I recognize that it’s more complicated. The presence of actual violent criminals preying on Latino communities makes it clear that “La Migra” may actually be here to help.

But it seems my childhood fears have now been taken up by the left in its portrayal of President Trump’s immigration stance. As much as liberal constituents may be moved by this narrative, Latinos aren’t buying it anymore.

The 2024 election results bore this out. A 2024 Pew Research poll found that 45% of Latinos expressed confidence in Trump’s more stringent immigration approach, compared to 39% who supported President Biden’s more relaxed policy. Latino-majority areas impacted by immigration – such as San Bernardino County and Riverside County in Southern California, and Starr County and Maverick County in Texas – voted red for the first time this presidential election.

The reason is simple: The criminals who entered the country during the recent waves of immigration came to our neighborhoods.

Neither party recognizes the real cause of this demographic shift. Democratic politicians have chosen to deflect the reality that their once-loyal base has chosen “President Boogeyman” and label those voters as “white-washed,” “colonized,” and “machismo.” Meanwhile, the right will likely deter Latino voters with an aggressive and rushed approach to immigration policy that lumps peaceful civilians in with dangerous criminals.

President Trump has shown to be one of the few presidents who distinguishes undocumented criminals – the majority of whom are 20- to 30-year-old men from 2nd- and 3rd-world countries – from pro-family Latino communities.

And from my experience, it’s clear that those pro-family Latino communities agree with Trump that undocumented criminals committing violent crimes should be deported.

At an immigration press conference in Austin, Trump stood beside the mother of Joseline Nungaray, a 12-year-old who was tragically murdered by an illegal immigrant in June of last year. Her mother, Alexis Nungaray, publicly supported Trump and criticized his predecessors for not taking on immigration reform sooner. She was part of the nearly 10% increase in Latina voters who supported President Trump in 2024 – the largest rise among any female demographic.

These so-called “machismo” voters know the stories of Joseline Nungaray and Laken Riley and instinctively imagine such tragedies happening to one of their own. Latinos value family deeply, evidenced by the fact that they’re more likely to live in multigenerational households. And we’re among the most likely to live in close proximity to this demographic of offenders.

The left has yet to come to terms with intra-racial and intra-community violence, crimes in which the perpetrator and victim share a race or community. It’s a public safety risk faced by a large swath of black and Latino voters and will be a driving policy concern for years to come. But it extends beyond domestic conflicts, with speculation around foreign actors orchestrating the terror.

ICE officials are currently cracking down on Tren de Aragua, a violent gang with alleged ties to the Venezuelan government. Reports indicate the gang has been strategically scattered across the U.S., inciting violence and instability in already distressed communities. As legislation aimed at targeting these undocumented gang members is underway, the left has a grand opportunity to join bipartisan efforts and strengthen public safety.

Bipartisan efforts like the Laken Riley Act keep right-wing rhetoric in check and serve as a crucial step in recalibrating the left back to the center, where treating Latino constituents with dignity and honesty is paramount.

Cruz Garcia is an independent policy consultant based in Southern California. He is also a freelance writer who focuses on voting trends, immigration policy, and the political economy. He received his master’s degree from the Pepperdine School of Public Policy and his bachelor’s from the University of Michigan.