With less than 100 days until the election, former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee pumped up his campaign’s efforts to reach Hispanic-Latino voters.
On Tuesday, the Biden election campaign unveiled a plan to address the economic inequalities facing Hispanics-Latinos amid the health and financial strife of the COVID-19 pandemic.
THE BIDEN AGENDA FOR THE LATINO COMMUNITY plan consists of investing in Hispanics-Latinos’ economic mobility, ending racial disparities through investments, quality education, battling hate crimes and gun violence, as well as overhaul the immigration system.
The New Hampshire Democratic Party (NHDP) supports the plan as an economic benefit to Manchester’s Hispanic-Latino population. “Latino Granite Staters are ready to replace Donald Trump with Joe Biden who will work with all of our communities to undo the damage of the Trump administration and support policies like increasing the minimum wage, expanding access to quality and affordable health care, and supporting our public schools that will help us succeed,” said Letizia Ortiz, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party Latino Caucus to the Ink Link.
“For too long, the Latino community has been an afterthought when it comes to national economic policies. With Joe Biden’s Agenda for the Latino Community, that changes,” said Rep. Israel Piedra. “For a city like Manchester that has the second-largest Latino population in New Hampshire, this plan will make a difference in the lives of many families.”
“The fight against systemic and economic injustices in this country has always been a part of the Latino community’s story. But Joe Biden’s Agenda for the Latino Community recognizes the importance of giving everyone, including those who have been left behind, a fair shot as we work together to rebuild our economy in the wake of an unprecedented public health crisis. I believe this plan will make a difference in the lives of families I represent and I am proud to support it,” said Rep. Manny Espitia.
Eager to address issues confronting the Hispanic-Latino and Black communities, the former Vice President addressed members of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) at their joint virtual conference in an interview.
In the plan outline, the Biden campaign criticizes President Trump for “waging an unrelenting assault on our values and our history as a nation of immigrants. It’s wrong, and it stops when Biden is elected President. The current Administration’s racist and wrong-headed immigration policies have created a humanitarian crisis on our border, undermined a key source of our economic strength, and weakened our moral standing in the world.”
The first thing he (Biden) would do if he were elected president would be to create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. to flee life-threatening situations or those who were brought to the U.S. as children, reported the Latino Reporter, the NAHJ Student Project activated during its national conferences. An estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants have been the recipients of the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program better known as DACA.
According to the Latino Reporter Biden also said he plans to extend the Temporary Protection Status program, or TPS, which temporarily protects undocumented immigrants from deportation if they’re fleeing life-threatening crises in their countries of origin.
Trump was invited by the journalism organizations to address its members. “While we are disappointed that President Donald Trump has not acknowledged our invitation to participate, we hope he will come to understand the importance of addressing and engaging with the voices and documentarians of the communities that represent the future of America,” said organization presidents, NAHJ President Hugo Balta and NABJ President Dorothy Tucker in a joint statement. Balta is also the Owner of the Latino News Network (CTLN, MALN, NHLN).
Senior campaign officials also said, the plan committed to investing in healthcare, and the building of a Smithsonian Latino museum on the National Mall in Washington DC.
With 32 million Latinos eligible to vote this year; Hispanics-Latinos are poised to make up the largest share of U.S. voters who are people of color in November’s election.
Biden’s Hispanic-Latino plan comes as polling shows he is leading Trump in key battleground states, including Florida and Arizona, where this community will make up a decisive share of the electorate. Sixty-three percent of Hispanics-Latinos said they backed Biden, while 30 percent said they supported Trump, according to a new poll from the University of California Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.
In 2016, according to exit polls, Trump got 28% of the Latino vote.
