TIME
By Sergio Garcia-Rios
August 28, 2015
Donald
Trump may chalk up his scuffle with Univision anchor Jorge Ramos
Tuesday night in Iowa as yet another win in taking on the media. When
Ramos insisted on asking
questions about Trump’s immigration proposal, Trump declared “Go back
to Univision,” and security escorted Ramos out of the room. But for
Latino voters, it’s much more meaningful. Jorge Ramos is not just
another news anchor—he’s the most trusted source of
information among Latinos, according to Latino Decisions polling during
the 2012 election.
Donald
Trump’s confrontation with Ramos is the latest example in a long list
of actions that have antagonized Latino voters. In June, when he
announced his intention to
run in the GOP presidential primary, he suggested that the real threat
to America was Mexicans crossing the border. Mexico is sending people
with “lots of problems,” people who were “bringing drugs,” and people
who were “rapists,” he said.
Since
then, Trump has continued to make immigration issues a centerpiece of
his campaign. He has proposed building a wall along the entire
U.S.-Mexico border and somehow
making Mexico pay for it. He says he will deport all undocumented
immigrants, including U.S.-born children, whom he plans to deport with
their parents: “We’re going to keep the families together, but they have
to go.” He also wants to deny U.S. citizenship
to U.S.-born children.
It
is precisely this anti-immigrant rhetoric that has resonated so
profoundly among certain pockets of GOP voters and keeps Trump as their
frontrunner. As Christopher
Parker, associate professor of political science at the University of
Washington, has written, “people who are highly identified with the Tea
Party are anxious about Latino immigrants taking over ‘their’ country.”
Trump
is clearly not popular among Latinos. A recent Gallup poll tracking the
GOP candidates reports a net favorable score of negative 51. (The next
lowest are Ted Cruz
and Rick Perry at negative seven. Jeb Bush is the highest, with 11.)
Attacking Ramos likely won’t help.
In
a new academic research paper, I find that Spanish-language media plays
an important role in socializing and mobilizing Latinos to vote, and
that exposure to Spanish
TV news significantly increases interest in voting and campaign
involvement. (The opposite is true for Latinos who are frequent
consumers of English news media.) The findings show that being a
frequent consumer of Spanish-language news more than doubles a
person’s likelihood of voting. We call this the “Jorge Ramos effect.”
For
many Latinos, Spanish news media represents both a trusted source of
information, as well as a socializing vehicle. Ramos is leading this
effort, asking tough questions
to politicians about the issues most important to the Latino community.
In addition, he participates in an extensive public service
announcement campaign called Ya es hora imploring Latinos to register
and vote to make their voices heard.
According
to the research findings, Spanish-language political news clearly
mobilized Latino voters in 2012. The “Jorge Ramos effect” was present
not only in heightened
interest in voting, but also in direct engagement with campaigns.
Research also finds a direct connection between Mitt Romney’s comments
that undocumented immigrants should practice self-deportation and the
record Latino voter turnout for Barack Obama in 2012.
And let’s not forget the failed U.S. Senate campaign in Nevada by
Republican Sharon Angle, whose campaign depicted Latino immigrants as
gang members and criminals. A post-election analysis proved she won less
than 10% of the Latino vote.
Running
on anti-immigrant rhetoric and fighting with Ramos is unlikely to go
without consequences for Mr. Trump. It may just spark Latino involvement
in politics even
earlier than expected in 2016.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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