{"id":17830,"date":"2018-11-06T13:47:48","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T18:47:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=17830"},"modified":"2018-12-28T09:33:37","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T14:33:37","slug":"do-latinos-have-reasons-to-distrust-democrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2018\/11\/06\/do-latinos-have-reasons-to-distrust-democrats\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Latinos Have Reasons to Distrust Democrats?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette<\/a> is about as liberal on immigration policy as any garden-variety Democrat. So it\u2019s newsworthy when he says Democrats are taking Latino support for granted.<\/p>\n

A self-proclaimed \u201cNever Trumper,\u201d Navarrette wrote last week that he now understands where \u201cLatinos for Trump\u201d are coming from.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a front-row seat not just to the pain of deportations, but also to how many immigrants commit crimes, or abuse social services,\u201d Navarratte stated.<\/p>\n

The columnist says too many Democratic candidates have an outreach strategy that can be summed up in six words: \u201cVote for us. We\u2019re not Republicans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether he\u2019s onto something in these midterm elections, or just whistling Dixie, Navarrette raises a legitimate point about Hispanic voters that most mainstream media outlets refuse to acknowledge.<\/p>\n

How else to explain that in a state like Texas, where 40 percent of the population is Hispanic, Democrats haven\u2019t won a statewide election since 1994<\/a>?<\/p>\n

The Party of Jefferson and Jackson may rationalize that voter turnout among Latinos has been anemic. Yet that\u2019s merely a symptom of a party failing to motivate a growing segment of the electorate that it historically claims as its base.<\/p>\n

Things could go the Democrats\u2019 way today, though Navarrette is far from sanguine about the prospects from a Latino perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn reality, Democrats have never been there for Latinos. And now they\u2019re surprised this group may not be there for them in the midterm elections?\u201d he muses.<\/p>\n

Navarrette is a decent guy who generally doesn\u2019t demonize those whose opinions differ from his. Democrats \u2013 and Republicans — would do well to heed his counsel here.