ABSTRACT
Much was made of the critical role Latino voters would play during the 2016 election. Essentially labeled “Hillary Clinton’s firewall” by the media and pundits,1 the growth of the Latino electorate, coupled with a strong preference for Hillary Clinton among Latinos, all but guaranteed that she would win the presidency. While nationally Latinos are about 16 percent of the electorate, their large presence in key battleground states make them pivotal voters. As students of history, politics and the Latino electorate, we believed that Donald Trump had made a strategic miscalculation by attacking immigrants, Latinos and other minority groups. He did not hold back in expressing his animosity toward Mexico and unauthorized persons from that country when he announced his candidacy on June 16, 2016 with these words, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Donald Trump made illegal immigration and Latinos scapegoats for what he perceived were the nation’s ills. His rhetoric and policy positions on
immigration were reminiscent of that which was experienced in California in the 1990s.2 In California, attacks against immigrants and Latinos in the mid1990s led Hispanics to turn the Golden State solidly blue.3 In 2016, Latino voters were expected to turn out in record numbers against Donald Trump.
