Latino voters react to Donald Trump's Mexico visit: "It’s becoming a political circus"
LOS ANGELES -- On Wednesday afternoon in L.A. County, immigration activists loaded into a van and headed to a local voter registration office to help Latino residents register to vote.
For them, this election is personal. “This issue is so important to the immigrant community,” said activist and organizer Polo Morales.
Morales, whose mother was deported back in the 1970’s and later became a U.S. citizen, believes Donald Trump’s trip to Mexico will work against him.
“The way that we see it is, it’s becoming a political circus. I think he’s made it very clear on where he stands, and he’s not going to change that.”
Twenty-seven million Latinos are eligible to vote in the U.S. In the 2012 presidential election 11 million voted -- at least 13 million are expected to vote this year.
A new Washington Post poll shows Hillary Clinton with a 55 percent favorable rating among Latino voters, versus Trump who has an 18 percent favorable rating.
Despite a much calmer Trump talking about his meeting with President Pena Nieto, former U.S. Treasurer and longtime Republican activist Rosario Marin doubts his intentions.
“If he thinks because all of a sudden he is going there now, millions of Mexicans are going to love him, and millions here in the United States are going to love him, he is wrong. He’s dead wrong.”
But there is some Latino support for Trump, including some at a recent rally in Anaheim. And Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez says Trump still has time to appeal to more Hispanics.
“There are a lot of Latinos who are closet Trump supporters. They are independent conservatives. They are concerned about border security, and they feel that Donald Trump being an outsider can get something done,” she said.