Trump Expanded Latino Support in 2024 as Border Counties Shifted Right
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 6
Trump Expanded Latino Support in 2024 as Border Counties Shifted Right
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 6
Summary
Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign widened Latino backing for restrictionist immigration politics, with gains especially strong among Latino men and in heavily Latino U.S.-Mexico border regions.
That support reflects a longer pattern, not a contradiction: Latinos make up a majority of Border Patrol officers and about 20%-30% of ICE agents, while appeals to security, status and belonging have repeatedly found traction.
Labor competition has also shaped that history, from 1950s support for Operation Wetback to union hostility toward undocumented workers in the 1960s and 1970s.
Even after civil-rights-era shifts weakened assimilationist politics, nativist currents persisted; in 1994, nearly half of Latinos polled considered backing California’s Proposition 187 before support fell to about a quarter.
The report argues the U.S. right’s broader move from biological racism toward anti-immigration and anti-multicultural politics has made space for more Latino participation, though recent polls suggest Latinos are now drifting away from Trump and Republicans.
Could the severe economic fallout from neighborhood raids ultimately force a change in how border security operations are conducted?
Will unprecedented international legal pressure from neighboring nations finally mandate strict accountability and transparency for enforcement agencies?