US election: How Trump’s Republicans are fighting for important Latino votes

In Arizona, JD Vance relies on God. In the state that was hotly contested in the presidential election, Donald Trump’s running mate is courting Latinos – people with roots in Latin America. The stage for this for the Republican is a church in Mesa, a town not far from the metropolis of Phoenix. A few hundred people came to see the 40-year-old senator – they waited in line for a long time in the scorching heat. During the event, people repeatedly pray with the running mate and sing the national anthem.

And Vance, dressed rather casually in a shirt and jeans, talks about his faith, which brought him back on the right path. “As Christians, our values ​​are of course not always popular, especially not in modern secular culture,” he warns. Only Trump advocates for Christians to live according to their faith. Many Latinos are strict Catholics. Vance’s campaign is one of many attempts to persuade the important Latina and Latino voter group to vote for Trump in the November 5 election.

It depends on the Latinos

Polls predict a razor-thin race between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. Every vote counts – and this is especially true in the so-called swing states, which are considered decisive in the election. It is not clear from the outset whether the Republicans or the Democrats will win. Arizona in the southwest of the USA – on the border with Mexico – is one of these special states. A particularly large number of people with roots in Latin America live here.

Nationwide, Latinos are the largest ethnic minority, with one in five people in the United States identifying as Latino. In Arizona, this group is significantly larger; around a third of the residents in the state known for the Grand Canyon identify as Latino. As a result, around 25 percent of the voting population there has roots in Latin America – the number is not as high in any other swing state. If you want to win here, you have to woo the Latinos.

Of course, people who identify as Latinos are not a homogeneous group, but a diverse community – but they all share a history of immigration. So how do Trump and his Republicans go about getting votes?

Trump’s strategy

Religious values: Latinas and Latinos are considered to be more conservative in their values. “If you want to raise your children the way you believe is right, Donald Trump is the only candidate on the ballot who will fight for that right,” warns Republican Vance at the church in Mesa, stoking the fears of religious parents an allegedly liberal re-education of children, for example in schools. Economy: “Any African-American or Hispanic who votes for Kamala should have their head examined… They’re kidding you,” Trump said recently. It remains to be seen whether insults really help. But what the Republican emphasizes again and again: Only he can guarantee a flourishing economy. In the church in Mesa, pre-selected questioner Gloria Badilla asks what Trump is doing for small business owners. Vance has an answer: fewer regulations, lower taxes.

Us against them: “I was born and raised in Mexico,” says Margarita Palau-Hernandez. Then the Latina who supports Trump tells the church audience how she came to the United States to study, started a family and became a businesswoman. A successful immigration story. Republican Vance said a short time later that illegal immigrants were an insult to those who took the “right” path. A few hours earlier, at an appearance in Tucson, he was even clearer: Latinos should be “pissed off” by Harris’ open border. Good and bad immigrants: pitting people against each other is the motto of the Republicans, who are trying to cover up Trump’s racist outbursts. Law and order: The Republicans hope that the issue they are pushing, immigration and securing the border, will be well received by Latinos. But Trump’s announced mass deportations are scaring some. So Republicans are trying to paint a picture of criminal illegal immigrants threatening everyone’s safety. “We don’t want our kids playing in playgrounds where a bag of candy is actually fentanyl in disguise,” warns Vance in Mesa. At the same time, it is “cool” that so many with the names Hernandez or Gonzalez work as police officers.

Support for Trump is growing

Trump’s strategy is quite successful – even though he repeatedly portrays immigrants as dangerous criminals and insults them racially. This scares many Latinos and Latinas. “I think that unfortunately the former president created this huge rhetoric of racism. And now it’s okay for people to be racist,” said 38-year-old Violeta Ramos from Phoenix, who opposes tightening immigration rules in Makes Arizona strong.

It should hardly come as a surprise to many that Latinos as a group of voters traditionally vote Democratic in the majority. But in recent years, Latina and Latino support for Democrats has declined nationally. Harris is clearly ahead in polls among Latinos – but her lead is at its lowest level in the past four presidential elections. So it’s no surprise that Republicans are trying hard to appeal to Latinos. Trump is particularly well received by men with roots in Latin America.