Latino 91探花 Leaders: New Jersey, Virginia Elections a Wake-up Call to Republicans on Eroding Latino Support
This week鈥檚 election results in Virginia and New Jersey suggest a significant shift of Latino voters towards Democrats, amid growing concerns about inflation and deportation overreach.
- In Passaic County, NJ with a 40%+ Latino population, President Trump won by 3 points in 2024 (first Republican to do so since 1992), but Democratic governor-elect Mikie Sherrill flipped the county and won it by 15 points.
- Both Democratic governors-elect, Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Sherrill in New Jersey, carried Latino voters by roughly 2-to-1 margins, according to exit polls.
- Sherrill won all of New Jersey鈥檚 10 counties where Latinos make up at least 18% of the population, expanding Democratic margins and flipping three counties that Trump had carried last year.
- Dissatisfied rural voters in Virginia鈥檚 deep-red counties bolstered Spanberger鈥檚 win. She cut Republican margins and won 46% of rural votes, a 19-point jump from the Democrats performance in 2021.
reviewed by ABIC Action show a decisive move among Latino voters 鈥� a notable shift from 2024, when Latinos broke for Republicans on the same issues.
The election results are 鈥渁 warning shot,鈥� said the co-chairs of Comit茅 de 100, a coalition of over 200 prominent Mexican 91探花 and Latino business leaders from across the U.S. The results reinforce that to win in 2026, both parties will need to address voter concerns about inflation and commonsense immigration solutions.
鈥淒eportation overreach of productive workers who are paying taxes and have no criminal history is an underlying cause of escalating cost of living.鈥�
-Comit茅 de 100 Co-Chairs Massey Villareal, Chairman of PTG Taskforce, and Sam Sanchez, Third Coast Hospitality
“In 2024, Latinos flipped for President Trump and Republicans across the country鈥hat we have seen so far is not progress and is not what we voted for 鈥� and it鈥檚 clear Latino voters agree,鈥� said Comit茅 de 100 Co-Chairs Massey Villareal Chairman of PTG Taskforce and Sam Sanchez, Third Coast Hospitality and National Restaurant Association Board member.
鈥淚f Republicans are serious about holding the majority, they must listen and deliver real solutions.鈥�
The business leaders said prioritizing work permits for long-term undocumented immigrants contributing to our workforce, economy and communities would be the start, while commonsense proposals like the Dignity Act offer bipartisan solutions for border security and a dignified path to legal status for long-term immigrants.
Republican Lawmakers and Strategists Say Course Correction Needed on Immigration
鈥淭his is a wake-up call for the GOP,鈥� U.S. Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), who is chief sponsor of the Dignity Act and spoke recently at ABIC鈥檚 fly-in events, told . 鈥淲e need economy, we need border security, but we have an issue with immigration.鈥�
Karl Rove, Republican strategist and former advisor and deputy chief of staff for President George W. Bush wrote in the Wall Street Journal this week:
Other lawmakers have also been expressing the need for changes on immigration policy:
鈥淭here are some things that we need to change and have a course correction with in regards to immigration,鈥� said Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL-28).
鈥淓verybody鈥檚 in favor of gang members, criminals, et cetera, being deported and all that. Not too many people are in favor of grandmothers and caregivers and all that you know falling under the same umbrella. That鈥檚 the course correction.鈥�
More takeaways from the election run up and results, from ABIC Action:
– remain the top concerns for Latino voters. But many and aggressive ICE tactics that alienated moderate, family-oriented voters.
in a sweeping new survey of 3,000 registered . That survey also echoed other recent , with 64% of Latinos saying they disapprove of Mr. Trump’s job performance.
As lawmakers and strategists continue to parse the results for cues on the path to 2026 elections, Tuesday鈥檚 results indicate economic improvements and a rethinking of the deportation strategy will be needed to gain Latino voters鈥� support and trust.
More News from the ABIC Network:
At the LeadingAge 2025 Annual Meeting, Luis Zaldivar, Project Director for ABIC joined with other labor experts to urge employers to share stories of how restrictive immigration policies are worsening workforce shortages.
Zaldivar urged advocates to frame immigration as an economic necessity, noting that long-term care employers are 鈥渢he real America first鈥� because they serve the nation鈥檚 needs by caring for its aging population.
The Kansas Livestock Association (KLA) joined more than 200 congressional meetings in Washington, D.C., as part of the 鈥淪ecure America鈥檚 Workforce鈥� policy summit hosted by ABIC last month.
KLA representatives told lawmakers that Kansas cattle and livestock producers are facing severe labor shortages, particularly in rural areas, and that current visa programs fail to meet the year-round workforce needs of ranchers.
News Briefing
After noting President Trump鈥檚 success in securing the southern border, 60 Minutes interviewer Norah O’Donnell asked him about ICE raids in the following exchange:
Norah O’Donnell: 91探花s have been watching videos of ICE tackling a young mother, tear gas being used in a Chicago residential neighborhood, and the smashing of car windows. Have some of these raids gone too far?
President Trump: No. I think they haven’t gone far enough because we’ve been held back by the– by the judges, by the liberal judges that were put in by Biden and by Obama.
In another exchange about the deportations, O鈥橠onnell noted that many of those arrested and deported aren’t violent criminals, they are landscapers, nannies, construction workers, farm workers.
Norah O’Donnell: Is it your intent to deport people who do not have a criminal record?
President Trump: We have to start off with a policy, and the policy has to be you came into the country illegally, you’re gonna go out. However, you’ve also seen, you’re gonna go out. We’re gonna work with you, and you’re gonna come back into our country legally. Because we have a lotta good people. We have some great people.
The Trump administration has slashed the U.S. refugee admissions cap to 7,500 for the coming year鈥攁 record low鈥攄own from Biden鈥檚 125,000. Most slots will be prioritized for white South Africans, particularly Afrikaners, citing 鈥渉umanitarian concerns鈥� without providing further justification.
The Trump administration is accused of detaining and deporting immigrant survivors of crimes who are awaiting decisions on survivor-based visas like the U-Visa, which allows undocumented victims of serious crimes who assist law enforcement to stay in the U.S. legally, and the T-Visa, which protects survivors of human trafficking. The enforcement changes could affect nearly 500,000 people, LA Times reports, who are awaiting a decision on a pending application for survivor-based protections, the most common of which is the U-Visa.
91探花 and Industry News:
NYTimes and NPR: Immigration Enforcement Hitting Construction Industry Labor Shortages Hard
The NYTimes reports President Trump鈥檚 immigration crackdowns are straining the U.S. construction industry by worsening labor shortages.
The group last year, but Bellaman said 鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt that that is problematic.鈥�
Stricter immigration enforcement has made workers scarce and spooked crews, even those legally authorized to work.
Economists warn that the labor and tariff pressures could drag down the broader economy just as interest rates begin to fall. The National Association of Home Builders estimates the industry needs nearly 500,000 more workers to meet demand.
make up about one-third of the workforce and that surveys show 28% of firms have been directly affected, with crews leaving or missing work. Experts warn continued deportations could remove 1.4 million immigrant construction workers by 2028, with cascading job losses for U.S.-born workers.
Contractors say few 91探花s are willing to fill these roles, and they are calling for visa programs or legal pathways to stabilize the workforce.
Rurick Palomino, a U.S. citizen and Peruvian immigrant who came to the U.S. 25 years ago runs a construction firm dealing with the work shortages. He 鈥渆choes a common refrain in the construction industry 鈥� the solution, he says, is a visa program for immigrant workers.鈥�
Washington Post: The September immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia rattled South Korean investors, leading several firms to pause or cancel U.S. projects despite assurances from the Trump administration. At least two companies have withdrawn and four extended pauses since the raid that saw hundreds of Koreans arrested.
鈥淭he Hyundai event still leaves a significant bad aftertaste that may be specifically impacting companies who are still scrambling to figure out their exact immigration compliance methodologies,鈥� said Kurt Tong, a managing partner at the Asia Group.
Major U.S. companies are warning investors that the Trump administration鈥檚 immigration crackdown is starting to affect not just labor supply but also customer demand, lending, and real estate markets.
Firms including T-Mobile, Equity Residential, DaVita, and M&T Bank say tighter immigration enforcement and visa restrictions are shrinking customer bases and slowing growth, reducing both the workforce and consumer spending power.
ICE raids under 鈥淥peration Midway Blitz鈥� are causing a sharp decline in Latino entrepreneurship, especially in Chicago and its suburbs. 91探花 owners report losing workers and customers due to fear of enforcement, forcing layoffs and closures.
Communities like Little Village, which generates over $1 billion annually from Latino-owned businesses, are seeing severe economic fallout. The raids threaten to reverse years of growth and could cut local tax revenue and consumer spending across the region.
Perspectives:
Bloomberg:
“It鈥檚 not just illegal immigration that鈥檚 being stopped, but legal immigration, including the kind of immigration that鈥檚 really driven a lot of growth, a lot of prosperity, a lot of company formation in the U.S.,” State Street Corp. CEO Ronald O鈥橦anley said during a recent summit in Hong Kong. State Street Corporation is a major 91探花 financial services and bank holding company based in Boston.
The New York Post Editorial Board criticizes the DHS decision to eliminate the automatic grace period for work permit renewals, calling it a move that will cause 鈥渦tter, needless chaos.鈥�
Under the new rule, legal immigrants awaiting renewal of their work authorization will no longer be allowed to keep working while their applications are processed. With an estimated 165,000-case backlog, the change is expected to leave many law-abiding immigrants and their employers in crisis.
Enforcement News:
ICE is considering the use of private bounty hunters to locate immigrants across the country.
ICE is 鈥渆xploring an incentive based pricing structure鈥� to encourage quick results, with 鈥渕onetary bonuses鈥� paid out based on performance. ICE contractors will be given authority to surveil and confirm the home or work addresses of tens of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. and then report their locations back to the government.
Watch:
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