The U.S. population includes estimated 65.2 million Latin Americans,almost One quarter of them Call California to go home. for More than a centuryThe state's two U.S. Senate seats are not in Latino. In 2022, Senator Alex Padilla reversed intentional neglect of Latino Senate candidates by major political parties in both countries, winning 61.1% of the vote. More than any other statewide candidateincluding Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Padilla, in the Trump administration's largest immigration raid so far Thursday Forced deleted At a Department of Homeland Security press conference in his hometown of Los Angeles. Manipulate because of the courage to exercise Congress' responsibilities. Ask a question and exit the work-related meeting. For many Latinos, the Trump administration’s abhorrent treatment of Padilla symbolizes a common complaint: being kicked out of conversations about our lives, families, and future.
The Trump administration’s immigration raid is a problem for Latinos. Not because immigration is Latino’s problem – all issues are Latino’s problem, but because Trump’s immigration enforcement is and has been racially motivated. From Trump’s campaign announcement in 2015 (called Mexican rapists and criminals), to his fixation that builds a wall on the southern border and pays for it, to his 2024 campaign, focusing on the falsehood of immigration and crime, the central narrative is “we” with “they” the “we.”
Immigration is the focus of every city and state, but Trump’s immigration enforcement appears to be focusing only on the Latino community. In Los Angeles, Trump’s attacks explicitly target Latino-majority communities and cities including West Lake, Paramount and Compton, transcend data-informed law enforcement actions to enable Latino-American racial analysis Close to the schooltend to do errands The car was washed Or sit Church parking lot.
Los Angeles has overtaken by Trump's federal over the past week. Padilla's silence and purge refuses to admit Four U.S. House of Representatives Three representatives at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in Adelanto on Saturday at the Los Angeles Federal Detention Center Sunday.
Despite the serious policy and human rights concerns raised by immigration attacks, the Trump administration’s unequal treatment of Latino Congress leaders represents another harm: a test of control over our Democratic Republic.
The United States has three common branches: legislation, enforcement, and judicial. This system of separation of power, checks and balances is designed to prevent tyranny and ensure a balanced government. Over the past five months, the Trump administration has subverted our governance system.
The Trump administration bypasses Congress’ budget actions by eliminating foreign aid. Trump officials deliberately ignore judicial orders. They blocked current members of the House and the Senate from entering federal buildings, blocking them from monitoring and destroying their inquiries.
Like Trump’s immigration enforcement actions, the administration’s excessive involvement of racial motivation. Hispanics have long shown that no one is listening to their needs – they are left out of the conversation and never on the table where decisions are made. Research clearly shows that Latin Americans have an artificial inadequacy in important social institutions such as academia, private enterprises, charity and news media. The list continues.
Unfortunately, when Latinos reach positions that should be exerted (such as Padilla's rise to the Senate), the positions themselves tend to decrease, so as Padilla was silent at a press conference, the Latinos who gained prominence were deprived of Feratinos' power in a parallel position. This week’s event provides a new chapter in Latino institutions and a new chapter in reduced dignity. Members of Congress were denied entry into work and, in the case of Padilla, were forcibly removed and detained.
One thing is consistent: the repeated dehumanization of Latinos and their needs. Latinos are not a giant, but the Trump administration will certainly treat us like this. His administration launched a critical attack on Latinos. From members of Latino community being stalked and arrested in home warehouse parking lots, graduating from places of worship or their children’s school, to targeted attacks on the sustainability and operation of Latino-led nonprofits, to physical attacks on U.S. senators. The Latino Conquest is currently on full display in Los Angeles, a region that burns the world’s fourth largest economy (California) and is the global epicenter for media and entertainment. The lack of meaningful Latino involvement in shaping narratives, trends and public imaginations has attracted attention.
Any conversation about the vulnerability of American democracy, the revival of fascism and authoritarianism, and the future of the Constitution is about Latinos and all Americans. As long as Latinos remain silent in conversations about the future of the country, exclusion and relegation to the periphery, the future remains bleak. Now, the test of the real-time response of the U.S. to the wholesale attacks of the second largest population group is now a common task. The leader of the group is Padilla.
Sonja Diaz is a civil rights lawyer and co-founder Latin Futures 2050 Laboratory and UCLA Institute of Latino Policy and Politics.
