I get it. Voting can sometimes feel like we are choosing between the lesser of two evils, if we decide to vote at all.

Even though Latinos voted in record numbers in 2024, millions of eligible Latino voters sat out an election whose outcome greatly impacted them.

Again, I get it: both Democrats and Republicans have mixed reputations in the Latino Community. For example, Reagan promoted himself as a compassionate conservative who sought out middle-of-the-road approaches to immigration reform. The same Reagan who also funded the Contras in Nicaragua, who were embattled with the Sandinista government.

Growing up in a Mexican and Nicaraguan family, there were those in my family who loved Reagan for his amnesty policies and others who despised him for fueling the devastating war in Nicaragua.

It’s complicated.

Because many Latinos carry with them both an attraction to strong men politics and an aversion to anything that even remotely smells of communism. We have memories or heard the stories of Castro, Ortega, and other regimes.

According to a Pew Research Center survey, 53% of Latinos have a negative impression of socialism, with only 41% viewing it positively. This negative impression is strongest with older generations and those with direct experiences of socialist regimes.

For example, 82% of Cuban Americans express a very or somewhat negative impression of socialism, a sentiment that is less pronounced among other Latino subgroups but still notable. Our parents and grandparents lived through revolutions, dictatorships, and many times came to the U.S. for safety, security, and to give future generations a better life.

For the Latino community today, we are at a crossroads. And whether we recognize it or not, the ballot contains more than voting for a candidate. The impacts are felt in all that we care about: family, safety, love, our young people, our abuelas. How, you may ask?

For example, if your sister was in a domestic violence situation, the Department of Justice has made several funding cuts to life-saving programs around the country, making it that much more difficult for your sister to leave that pendejo you know is not good for her. Our children are vulnerable due to budget cuts to essential childcare programs, such as Head Start. Single parents are raising 1 in 4 Latino children, and without quality child care, they cannot work to sustain themselves and their families.

In the 2024 election, the U.S. economy and inflation were top issues for Latino voters. But the economy is more than just the price of eggs, gasoline, or groceries. Surviving in this economy comes with added barriers based on immigration status, age, and housing stability.

For undocumented elders, they continue to work beyond what their bodies can handle because they cannot access Social Security, even when they pay into it. UC Merced’s Community and Labor Center estimates that “in 2019, California noncitizen farmworkers aged 45-54 numbered 46,393; those aged 55-64 numbered 29,276; those aged 65-74 numbered 5,350; and those aged 75 and above numbered 258. Assuming that at least 42% of noncitizen farmworkers are undocumented, up to 14,651 farmworkers lacking any form of economic safety net are currently at retirement age or will reach it within the next few years, with another 19,485 to soon follow”.

For those who do have social security, it's often not enough, and they continue to toil picking crops or cleaning houses to make ends meet. As housing programs are gutted, 24% of public housing residents who are Latinos are at risk of homelessness.

At this moment, we must consider the future of our community. We are the fastest-growing population in the United States. Some Latinos are living in the shadows, afraid of all that is happening around them. Others believe that the current moment is necessary for the country's good.

There are Latinos, including members of my family, who vote conservatively for religious reasons. About half of Latino evangelical Protestants (52%) say the Republican Party represents the interests of people like them at least somewhat well – a greater share than among Latino Catholics (32%) or religiously unaffiliated Latinos (28%).

We are not a monolith, all thinking and voting the same, or even for the same reasons. And we also cannot afford to be passive, as if we will be unaffected by the aftermath of the elections. We must be informed and make informed choices, not only for our own interests but for those of our community.

We are not victims, we are a deciding force that cannot be ignored. We have yet to realize the full potential of Latinos in this country, realizing our dreams, embracing our ideas, and appreciating the beauty of all we have to offer.

My call to action is for Latinos to critically consider our role in shaping democracy.

In 2024, approximately 36.2 million Latinos were eligible to vote, accounting for 50% of new eligible voters since 2020. The Latino vote is particularly impactful in swing states like Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, where Latino votes have been decisive in recent elections.

Beyond elections, we need to speak up, be heard, and organize on every level, from school boards to nonprofit organizations and unions. I hope that as we build the future for Latinos in the U.S., we do so with compassion, empathy, and love, staying true to who we are and our roots.

Sincerely,

Elisabet Avalos

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Elisabet Avalos is a leader in housing justice, developing programs for survivors of violence experiencing homelessness, and a Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project on Domestic Violence and Economic Security.

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