If this election has made one thing clear so far, it’s that the power and diversity of Latino voters should not be overlooked. The Latino vote has been pivotal in major swing states — and in starkly different ways. In Florida, President Trump “consolidated much of the Cuban-American vote, winning over not only older, more conservative exiles, but also new arrivals who’d leaned toward Obama in 2012” —  a tactic that brought him a victory in the battleground state, David Smiley reports for the Miami Herald. “Trump also made inroads with Latino voters who hail from other parts of Latin America, including Venezuela and Colombia, as he consistently campaigned against the specter of socialism.” 

In Arizona, Latinos have been instrumental in helping Joe Biden close in on securing the state (though as of this morning, Fox News and the Associated Press are the only organizations that have called the state for Biden). As Reuters’ Mimi Dwyer reports: “Arizona’s historically harsh treatment of immigrants and passage of legislation like SB1070, a 2010 law that codified several anti-immigrant measures, fostered strong community organizing roots.” 

As Eric Rodriguez of UnidosUS told The Washington Post’s Jose A. Del Real and Arelis R. Hernández: “Our understanding of the Latino electorate has to become much more sophisticated because you can absolutely, as a candidate, knit together a cohesive bloc of Latino votes but you have to understand the segment of voters in a way that neither party does now. It isn’t the voters’ fault. It’s the campaign’s.”

Want to be a part of the conversation about what is next for immigration? Join us the week of Nov. 16 for our annual convening, Leading the Way: An American Approach to Immigration. Thirty-five speakers, two hours a day streaming to your home for a price of $Free.99. Register for Leading the Way here.

Welcome to Thursday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].

‘SO MUCH AT STAKE’ – As the country anxiously awaits the results of Tuesday’s presidential election, one group feeling particularly tense is Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients whose status in this country relies on the outcome, reports Nidhi Prakash for BuzzFeed News. DACA recipient Luz Chavez, an organizer at United We Dream Action and a college student, was brought to the U.S. by her parents when she was three and did not know she was undocumented until she was 16. She describes why watching the election results roll in is different for her than for most Americans: “A lot of people look at this election as picking between two evils again, but in fact, for me, it's knowing my future and my certainty in this country. Every single policy put in place by folks that people elect into office directly impact my family, my community, and directly impact me. There's so much at stake here.”

‘ROOTED IN FEAR’ – Elizabeth Neumann, a former national security official who served the George W. Bush and Trump administrations, writes in an op-ed for The xxxxxx about how her faith and national security expertise inform her politics — and why she ultimately spoke out against President Trump. “Throughout Scripture, God demonstrates His heart for the vulnerable and oppressed and calls His people to advocate for the immigrant, the refugee, and the poor.” In contrast, she argues, “what has occurred in our culture and is reflected in the Trump administration’s policies — significant reductions of the refugee ceiling, travel restrictions which largely target underdeveloped countries, and using intentionally cruel family separations as a deterrent — is not about security. It is xenophobia and racism, rooted in fear.”

‘SHOULDER TO SHOULDER’ – Marc and Kim Wyatt, missionaries and co-founders of Welcome House Raleigh, also see the treatment of refugees and immigrants as a key determinant of the health of our society. In an op-ed for Chapelboro, they argue that accepting refugees into the U.S. is not only in line with Christian values, but also makes our communities stronger. “Throughout the pandemic, refugees have stood shoulder to shoulder with native-born Americans in providing essential work on the frontlines; in fact, research from the New American Economy shows that 15.6 percent of all refugees work in the healthcare sector. But that’s only part of a much longer story of refugee contributions. For decades, refugee resettlement has revitalized communities across the U.S., spurred small business growth and powered local economies.”

THE STORIES WE TELL – If you’re looking for a quick break from the chaos of this election, take a listen to the latest episode of “Only in America.” For this week’s episode I chatted with Nancy Jooyoun Kim, whose debut novel, The Last Story of Mina Lee, has become a New York Times and USA Today bestseller since being published in September. We discussed the power immigrant stories can bring to a complicated topic — and why she wants to challenge the assumptions of the American Dream that often feature in popular immigrant narratives.

Thanks for reading,

Ali