19-year-old Yuliana Rico Chavez says immigration fears are personal.
“Both my family and I are scared,” Chavez says. “And that has a lot to do with who I’m going to vote for and where I stand right now.”
The business major at American River College is part of Latinos Unidos and El Centro, groups that support Latino students on campus.
But she says affordability issues — not immigration — are top of mind when deciding who to vote for in California’s governor’s race.
“My mom and my brothers are the ones who are working, so there’s a lot of weight on their shoulders now that the prices have increased.”
Housing costs, gas prices, healthcare and education consistently came up as top issues in conversations with young Latino voters at American River College.
That’s despite immigration enforcement ramping up nationally under the Trump administration.
Lilian Esbejel became a naturalized citizen last year and says she’ll be voting for the first time in California’s primary election.
She says immigration still affects her life, but affordability issues are a daily struggle.
“I have to get more hours for work and it’s complicated because I need to make more money,” Esbejel explains. “But at the same time I want to build a future and I want to get my studies, so that’s why it affects a lot.”
UCLA political science professor Matt Barreto says younger Latino voters who grew up in California are increasingly focused on broader working-class concerns.
“That allows the average Latino voter to look deeper and more holistically at the issues,” Barreto says. “Because we’ve been able to get our members of Congress, our members of the state legislature and these other offices finally elected after decades of struggle.”
Barreto says nearly half of the Latino population are still not old enough to vote. But they are becoming increasingly important to winning elections as they become eligible.
So, what issues do Democratic candidates think are most important to young Latinos?
“When you talk to a young person getting ready to graduate frpom high school, they’ll tell you being able to afford college…” says California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
Frontrunner Becerra has focused heavily on affordability and health care while also leaning into his background.
“You think first and foremost about the things that your family has to confront first,” Becerra says.
Tom Steyer has made immigration enforcement much more central to his message.
“I think the issue which is not specifically Latino, but much more significantly Latino, is about ICE,” says Steyer. “Is about immigration. Is about the attempt by the Trump administration to terrorize and pick on people of color and specifically Latinos.”
And former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa argues Democrats tend to misunderstand Latino voters when they focus too narrowly on immigration.
“The Latino agenda is the American agenda,” says Villaraigosa. “They care about good schools, they care about healthcare, they care about a good job and an economy that’s working for more people. Yes they care about immigration, but the notion that that’s all they care about or the most important thing just isn’t true.”
Latino voting expert Mike Madrid says candidates connecting most with young Latinos are those emphasizing kitchen table issues.
“They’re stepping up and saying maybe we need to look a little bit different in this Democratic Party,” Madrid explains. “Not because of the complexion of our skin or the sound of our last name, but because of the affordability issues and working class concerns that I have.”
Madrid says that’s likely why Becerra has started surging in the polls, pointing to his two decades in Congress representing a largely blue collar, immigrant-dense district in East Los Angeles.
