Who are the hispanic voters voting for Donald Trump, and what do they claim he will do for them?
According to Buzzfeed, they like his strength, ignores his rhetoric, and most of them don’t think he will build the wall nor deport any illegal immigrants.
In order to find out who the supporters are, Buzzfeed looked at public polling, went through interviews from polling places in Nevada and Florida, and searched for conversations between Trump supporters on Facebook.
The findings show the same types of people from other groups who are disposed to like Donald Trump; older men, ex-soldiers, people dissatisfied with the power of the establishment and American nationalists.
Guess who just early voted in Florida? @realDonaldTrump #MakeAmericaGreatAgain #TrumpTrain #Florida #SuperTuesday pic.twitter.com/dol6fwwxth
— Alexi Juan Lopez (@AlexiJLopez) March 1, 2016
Many of the Trump-supporting Latinos have been American citizens for decades.
They don’t identify with the newcomers and don’t know any undocumented immigrants. Still, their support of Trump is sometimes met with harsh reactions from other members of their communities. Ted Yanez, 26, from Eugene, Oregon, who is of Mexican ancestry, explains:
“I’ve gotten a lot of crap from friends and family about supporting him […] There’s quite a stigma around Trump and his ideas of securing the border.”
Jesse Lopez from Corpus Christi, Texas, is battling on Facebook with Latinos calling him a traitor.
“I’m not winning any popularity contests.”
Or as John Avila, a 54 year old internet sales manager for a car dealership in Los Angeles, put it:
“As a Hispanic who supports or leans towards Trump you get caught in a race war.”
Ileana Garcia, who is a Cuban-American former radio and TV personality from Miami, is facing more severe effects for her public devotion to Trump on Facebook:
“Friends at Univision have said ‘if you ever want to do voiceover work again don’t say that, don’t put that up there.'”
In interviews, Hispanic Trump supporters stress their American roots. One person described his ancestry originating in Texas, which he added used to be Mexico. Avila explained:
“I don’t speak Spanish, and the Mexican culture doesn’t resonate with me.”
Lopez has actually worked with customs and border patrol and he saw “many illegals” cross the border, so when Trump announced his plans, Lopez was in total agreement.
Yanez felt that Trump’s plan to deport undocumented immigrants will improve the image of Hispanics already here. More are going to college, but negative stereotypes that stigmatize the whole community still persist.
“When he says he loves the Mexican people, I don’t think he actually hates any single race or group […] I think he legitimately wants to help make things better for everybody.”
Velazquez, 62, from New Jersey is a Puerto Rican American, who thinks that people like Trump because he is an outsider. In contrast, Washington consists of a bunch of insiders, and they control the nation and the wealth and endlessly pass the baton from one to the other. But what about the racist claim?
“I don’t think he’s a racist, I just think he’s not a politician.”
Garcia from Miami considers Trump the most sincere presidential candidate, who doesn’t know how to be politically correct.
“He has immense sincerity and conviction, he is like un viejo malcriado, like an uncle who misbehaves […] He says really stupid things sometimes but he meant them at that moment.”
Basically, Trump’s Hispanic supporters seem to like him because he is a strong man who says what he means. Dave Maestas, 43, spent 20 years in the military, and feels that Trump exudes leadership.
“In my experience, a lot of Latinos that I know in the military community, 90% are for Trump.”
None of the Hispanics considers Trump a racist. They weren’t offended by Trump calling Mexicans rapists, because they don’t believe he was referring to them. Let’s just hope we will never be in a position with Trump as a president to find out.
Featured image via Twitter.
