With Washington in gridlock, Latinos turn to state and local elections

As the midterm elections loom, Democrats are banking on Latino voters in key races around the country to maintain their majority in the Senate and perhaps gain some seats in the House.

But this may prove difficult. Latinos historically vote in low numbers, even more so in midterm elections. Young voters, too, are a low-turnout group. This year, with outrage over failed immigration reform efforts and an unceasing stream of right-wing, anti-immigrant vitriol, Latinos have many reasons to abandon electoral politics.

Opting out of voting is a tempting alternative, but voting Democratic lawmakers out would exchange politicians who have done nothing for those who promise to do worse. Despite congressional and presidential letdowns, voting in the midterm elections at federal, state and local levels can still make a big difference.

I learned this from three Latino activists whom I asked about their responses to President Barack Obama’s and Congress’ failure to keep promises on immigration reform. All three are, like me, residents of Minnesota, one of the handful of Midwestern states that are hotly contested by both parties.

Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, an immigrant from Guanajuato, Mexico, said she believes political power means more than voting. “My vision is more than the process,” she said. “It’s a long-term inclusion for people who can and cannot vote.”

For her, participating in democracy means showing up at school board meetings, talking to legislators and serving on boards and commissions as well as voting. She participated in the 2013 Fast for Families, a weeklong demonstration in Washington, D.C., where she met with members of Congress and advocated for comprehensive immigration reform. Gonzalez Avalos, who serves on the human rights commission for the city of Richfield, is now the director of Navigate MN, a student network created to help immigrant students access educational opportunities.

Gonzalez Avalos wants to see people involved in issues they care about. “It can be immigrant rights, gun control, legalization of controlled substances. Whatever it is, we invite people to … organize and to make connections with other movements,” she said. Latinos and recent immigrants care about immigration, but that’s not their top issue. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that health care, education and the economy and jobs all consistently rank higher than immigration with Hispanic registered voters. 

Gonzalez Avalos is not a citizen, but that doesn’t stop her political activism. She said political participation is not just going to the polls. “Even if you can’t vote, you can move other people who can,” she added.

As for those who can vote, she recognizes that local and state decisions affect everyone in those jurisdictions, often more powerfully than federal legislation. For example, school board elections determine how our children are educated. State legislatures determine whether states could offer expanded Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act or restrict coverage so that low-income people lose access to medical care.

Gonzalez Avalos is not alone in emphasizing the importance of local and state elections. “Voting is really, really important,” insisted Sara Lopez, an immigrant from Uruapan, Mexico, and a community organizer in Minneapolis. “Presidential elections are way more exciting, but you can have more impact at the local and state level.”

Even state and local governments make important decisions that affect immigrants. For example, driver’s licenses for all have been a big state-level push for immigrant communities. “Last year driver’s licenses for all failed by only four votes,” Lopez said, referring to a bill in the Minnesota state legislature. “So we are about to get driver’s licenses for everybody in the state [in the next legislative session].”

Not having driver’s licenses puts undocumented immigrants at a great disadvantage. They can be arrested for driving without a license and then held for deportation. Work options become limited, and every trip to a school event or doctor’s office is an enormous risk.

State and local decisions also affect federal action on issues such as deportations. More and more state and local law enforcement agencies are refusing to participate in federal immigration enforcement programs. An immigration hold is a request by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to local law enforcement to hold someone who has been arrested for a nonimmigration offense, such as a traffic violation. “More than 225 local law enforcement agencies now ignore ICE hold requests,” Terry Carter noted in The American Bar Association Journal earlier this month.

Like Lopez and Gonzales Avalos, Juventino Meza, a longtime immigration activist and a Dreamer (an immigrant who received permanent residency under the 2001 Dream Act), insists staying away from the polls is not a viable option.

“I think those of us who are rightfully angry at Republicans and Democrats have a job — hold people accountable, whoever they are,” says Meza. “Republicans in the House failed to pass a bill. President Obama failed to take executive action before the elections while more than 1,000 people are deported a day.” He advocates turning anger into action. “We should find and elect candidates who are going to do right by our families,” he said.