Seven advocacy organizations working to engage Latino voters ahead of the presidential election found that many of them are familiar with Project 2025, but few understand the specifics behind it. Over 900 pages of conservative policy blueprint and its potential impact if implemented.
These groups, many of which are left-leaning or progressive, are coming together under a new coalition to launch a bilingual campaign denouncing Project 2025 and its stance on specific issues important to Latino voters, such as education, health care access, and fertility. rights, climate change and immigration, as well as work and workers’ rights.
The “Defendiendo Nuestro Futuro, Latinos Against Project 2025” campaign aims to target millions of Latino voters in swing states through door-to-door canvassing efforts, phone banking and social media.
“The more we educate the community about this plan and its implications … Latino voters will know that Project 2025 is not in their best interest,” said Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of the immigrant rights group. Voice of Americasaid this on Tuesday during the opening of the campaign.
Latino voters stand to reshape the presidential race in ways that are hard to predict since then many of them are young people or newly registered votersaccording to memory recently Equis Research survey.
“There is a huge information gap in the Latino community about Project 2025,” said Yadira Sanchez, executive director of Latino Citizens. Poder Latin.
Sanchez said his organization talks to about 200 people a week as part of its efforts to reach Latino voters in six states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Washington, California and Texas. Based on the conversations they had, he estimated that “less than 20% know what Project 2025 is,” because there is so little information about the project in Spanish.
At the same time, TikTok posts about Project 2025 have garnered millions of views on the social media platform earlier this year. TikTok is very popular among young people Spanish adultsmost prefer Get news in English and from digital sources.
There was a lot of attention on TikTok Project 2025’s plan to limit federal education policy and finally, abolish the US Department of Education.
Katharine Pichardo-Erskine, executive director of the Latino Victory Foundation, argued that this would cut “vital education programs that help break the cycle of poverty” in Latino communities.
Pichardo-Erskine said the organization was recently launched A national survey of Latino voters This includes a question about Project 2025.
“The survey found that many Latinos are familiar with Project 2025,” Pichardo-Erskine said. Of those who heard about it, “almost 40% felt it was somewhat bad for them.”
He added that “we still have a lot of education to do” for people to understand how it can affect their daily lives.
Developed by a conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 is a transition project that includes a policy plan and personnel database for the next Republican president, and counts the support of many more. 100 conservative organizations.
Many of these organizations are led by close allies and top former advisers of former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Trump The project clearly rejected 2025 and directed his supporters to his campaign platform called Agenda47.
Still, Latino groups believe that separation is not enough, as they focus on converging conservative views on issues including immigration.
Project 2025 calls for “mass deportation”. of undocumented immigrants by expanding the powers of immigration enforcement agencies and finishing the border wall between the US and Mexico.
Signs reading “mass deportation” were handed out to attendees of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month when Trump accepted the Republican nomination, US President David Huerta said. Service Employees International Union-United Service Employees WestUnion in California.
“So if Trump is elected in November, it’s very clear what his potential presidential agenda will be,” Huerta said.
Impacts on health and abortion access, climate legislation
When it comes to health care access and reproductive rights, Project 2025 proposes to limit Medicaid. cost limitsmoving away from the program’s open funding structure, it allows for easier adaptation to the needs of the population, especially in times of crisis.
according to Department of Health and Human ServicesThe study found that Medicaid expansion led to a decline in uninsured rates among Latin Americans from 2010 to 2022. Proposed Medicaid spending caps could affect patient access to health care. about 18 million Latino citizens entered the program.
The Conservative policy roadmap also states that “abortion is not healthcare” and suggests serious limitations to it.
Almost 6.7 million Latinas of reproductive age already live in states where it is prohibited or the possibility of banning abortions the largest group of women of color in the nation affected by existing or proposed state abortion bans.
Project 2025 policies will prioritize efforts to combat climate change and roll back various environmental regulations considered heavy for business development.
according to US Environmental Protection AgencyLatinos are more likely to experience the harmful effects of climate change and global warming because they face higher temperature mortality rates than non-Hispanic whites and live in areas prone to inland and coastal flooding. There are also three states with the highest Hispanic populations (California, Texas, and Florida). is among the heaviest blows as a result of natural disasters forest fires, stronger and stronger hurricanes and extreme heat waves.
Project 2025 also outlines ways to end the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from the collection of employment statistics based on race and ethnicityit would make it harder to track discrimination in the workplace, as well as eliminate the oversight role of the National Labor Relations Board.
Huerta said the move would undermine worker protections and union rights.
“Too often as a community we choose not to vote, but this time we have to,” Huerta said. “We’ve never seen the results of a vote as real as we are now.”
A spokeswoman for the Heritage Foundation did not return emails and phone calls seeking comment. But This is reported on the “Project 2025” website of the organization“The left has spent millions on fear mongering over Project 2025 because they fear losing their power.”