Some Latino Republicans struggling with Trump's mass deportation policies [View all]
Source: ABC News
June 16, 2025, 4:27 PM
Several high-profile Hispanic and Latino Republican elected officials have expressed concerns over the Trump administration's handling of immigration -- a recent signal of what some see as an erosion of the political gains that President Donald Trump made with Latinos in 2024. Amid those concerns, the Department of Homeland Security has paused most raids on farms, restaurants and hotels as Trump says he'll expand enforcement efforts in larger cities. Other Republicans say that Hispanic and Latino support for the president remains strong and blame the previous administration for recent immigration problems.
According to exit polls, 46% of Hispanic and Latino voters voted for Trump in 2024 -- an improvement compared to his 2020 run, when he got 32% of Hispanic and Latino votes. Matt Barreto, a political scientist at the University of California Los Angeles and a founder of BSP Research, a Democratic-aligned polling firm, told ABC News that this was largely due to economic concerns: "Voters just felt that Trump might provide better economic opportunities." (Barreto conducted polling for the Harris-Walz campaign.)
But as Trump's mass deportation roundups spread beyond those with criminal records to day laborers and factory workers, several Hispanic and Latino members of Congress who supported Trump have pushed back on aspects of the administration's tactics. Some Latino officials say to focus on immediate threats
Six out of 11 members of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, a Republican-sponsored caucus, sent a letter Wednesday urging the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to focus enforcement on immigrants who pose "an immediate threat to public safety." "We need to give absolute priority to every violent offender and convicted criminal illegal alien present in our nation. Diverting limited resources to other objectives puts our national security at risk," the members wrote.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-immigration-policies-hurting-support-latino-voters/story?id=122868707
Link to PRESS RELEASE AND LETTER - Rep. Tony Gonzales, Republican Hispanic Conference Members: Prioritize Violent Offenders and Convicted Criminal Aliens
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