The Role of America’s Hispanic and Latinx Vote In 2020
Latino USA Host Maria Hinojosa, along with a local journalist and an immigration attorney, weigh in on what this election means for BIPOC, Hispanic and Latinx populations across the country and here in Detroit.
As we inch closer to Election day, the WDET newsroom and Detroit Today are continuing to explore how the 2020 presidential race is unfolding through this unprecedented year.
A big part of how Detroit Today is looking at this election is through the lenses of various groups that make up the United States of America — a place that has felt more divided than united since 2016 and the years that have followed.
Stephen Henderson examines this political moment through the Hispanic/Latinx perspective and why some political analysts are referring to the voting bloc as the “sleeping giant.”
“This might be the most important election in the last decade or more for immigrants’ rights.” — Migladys Bermudez, Justice For Our Neighbors Michigan
Listen: Latino USA Host Maria Hinojosa, local journalist Serena Maria Daniels and immigration attorney Migladys Bermudez discuss the important role played by Latinx and Hispanic Americans in this election.
Guests:
Maria Hinojosa, host of Latino USA and award-winning journalist, news anchor and author, offers her views on how the Latinx vote is expected to impact the November election.
“Except for very few news organizations… the understanding of the complexity of the Latino and Latina vote (is lacking),” notes Hinojosa in discussing how prevailing narratives of the Latinx community are often reductive.
On the topic of Latinos who are voting for President Trump, Hinojosa notes that “conservative Latinos (are) buying into that fear that Joe Biden will lose control of these cities because they’re run by Democrats. And I’m like, ‘What? I live in New York City and none of that is happening,'” says Hinojosa. “The only way this country becomes immigrant-friendly is if each one of us makes it that way,” she says. Hinojosa also notes that everyone should expect the election results to take longer than normal and that the delay in results doesn’t mean things are going off the rails.
Serena Maria Daniels is the founder of Tostada Magazine and a local news fellow with First Draft, a nonprofit news organization that researches misinformation online and collaborates with newsrooms to combat information disorder.
Daniels notes that the pandemic created a revealing situation around the disparity of reliable information between English and non-English speakers in Detroit. She says entire populations in and around Detroit are not getting good, reliable information about the pandemic. Daniels is currently working on a multi-language glossary of important terms for voters who speak other languages as part of her news fellowship.
Migladys Bermudez is an immigration attorney with Justice For Our Neighbors Michigan. Bermudez says she can characterize her sentiments in these final days leading up to the election with one word: “anxious.”
Bermudez, a resident of Southwest Detroit, says “I have the only yard sign of maybe the entire 4 or 5 blocks in my community… I’m hoping that doesn’t reflect on the excitement or the urgency of this election.” In terms of how the last four years have affected her clients, many of whom are immigrants, she says that “this might be the most important election in the last decade or more for immigrants’ rights.”
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