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Trump won Latin American votes like mine on immigration, economy

Online Niel November 10, 2024

In addition to fumbling the economy, the Biden-Harris administration has been derelict in its duties to secure the US-Mexico border and enforce our country’s immigration laws.

Tommy Vallejos
| Opinion contributor

One of the most offensive narratives emerging from this year’s presidential election is that Latinos who voted for Donald Trump is racist.

As someone who served our country in the armed forces, a Mexican-American who proudly voted for President-elect Donald Trump, I condemn this narrative with every fiber of my being.

I voted for President-elect Donald Trump because the last few years under the current administration have been a disaster on many levels.

i’m not alone: 46% of Latinos nationwideaccording to some polls, he voted for the Republican presidential ticket. In addition, President-elect Donald Trump beat Vice President Harris among Latino men 10 percentage points.

Although some want to put this on the record sexismracism and even misinformationthe answer is simple. To paraphrase Democratic strategist James Carville: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Latinos were making gains, then COVID and high inflation stopped them

Although inflation is starting to fall, many Latin Americans are struggling to make ends meet. I know this anecdotally from the Latinos I serve and from the abundance of public surveys showing that Latinos were most concerned about jobs and the economy heading towards election day.

What some in the political class in Nashville and Washington miss is that inflation and a higher cost of living are hitting the middle class and Latinos in particular. That’s because Latinos, on average, have lower disposable income and savings than most Americans.

Latinos also know that just a few years ago, things were different.

In 2019, the national Latino the unemployment rate was at a historic low.

Home ownership and entrepreneurship rates among Latinos were booming. The economy was growing, and many Latinos felt they were starting to get ahead and live the American dream.

And then COVID-19 hit and the bottom fell out.

The Biden administration was ushered into power, and many Latinos were eager to give the Democrats a chance to fix the economy.

Instead of reducing the tax and regulatory burden on job creators, the new administration has been convinced that we need to grow the size of government and spend freely and indiscriminately.

Inflation soared and stagnant wages failed to keep up.

Democrats and some in the news media told us rejects the evidence of our eyes and ears because the national inflation rate was falling and the economy was doing great!

The Latins weren’t buying it.

Hispanic voters support immigration, but also the rule of law

Instead of addressing what a Harris administration would do differently, her campaign paraded Latino celebrities on stage while accusing Republicans of being racist.

In addition to fumbling the economy, the Biden/Harris administration has been derelict in its duties to secure the US-Mexico border and enforce our country’s immigration laws. In their desire not to be Trump, the Biden administration suspended dozens of immigration rules that contained illegal immigration to the United States.

What followed was one of the largest spikes in illegal immigration in our country’s history.

Although Latinos support immigration and immigrants, they equally support the rule of law and want an orderly process.

Things got so bad that by summer polls showed that not only were Latinos no longer trusting the Democrats on immigration, but some actually applied immediate deportation of illegal immigrants.

This may help explain why counties along the US-Mexico border voted Republican, including Starr County, which did not vote GOP since 1892!

The political class has failed to appreciate our love of freedom and opportunity

President-elect Trump has promised to turn the page in recent years — and Latinos were ready for a change. When asked, I was happy to attend a recent Latin American summit in South Florida and advise his campaign.

Supporting his candidacy does not make us racist.

We are hard-working Americans, proud of our Latino heritage, who want to provide for our families and contribute positively to our local communities.

And most importantly, we love the USA and value freedom and opportunity.

The sooner the political class realizes this, the better they will be able to win over Latinos in future elections.

The rev. Tommy Vallejos served in the US Army, is a former Montgomery County Commissioner, and is the Executive Director of Latinos for Tennessee. This column originally appeared in The Tennessean.