Bolstering the System of Oppression: Latino Extreme Conservatism

• In Event: 2020 and beyond: Examining Black and Latino Political Preferences

Abstract

Research shows that immigration, especially undocumented immigration, has been racialized as a primarily Latino phenomenon. Not surprisingly, compared to other racial and ethnic groups, Latinos, and Mexican Americans in particular, express the most progressive attitudes on immigration. However, as most recently demonstrated during President Trump’s 2016 electoral victory, about one third of Latinos continuously vote for Republican presidential candidates, despite this party’s association with blatant anti-Latino nativism (Asma, 2016; Sonneland, 2020). In fact, some Latinos share these anti-immigrant sentiments. For example, 10% do not support the Dream Act, 19% do support President Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border (Lopez, 2020), and 25% of Latinos think that there are too many immigrants living in the United States today (Lopez, 2020). Paying particular attention to how, if at all, social identities influence these opinions, the primary research questions driving this study are: Who are Latino Trump supporters and why do they support him? Are they any different from Latinxs who voted Republican in pre-2016 elections? And how did/do these Latinos reconcile the former president’s anti-Latino rhetoric with their own pan-ethnic identity? To answer these questions, I draw on 39 semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with Latino Trump supporters across five South Texas counties – Willacy, Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Zapata.

Author

• Rodolfo Solis, University of California, Los Angeles