Editorial: Latinos for Trump, listen. Now is the time to stand with your people

Do you remember what it was like to live in a terror state?

Latinos of all ages and backgrounds have felt it time and time again in this country — experiencing what it is to fear for their lives, to be persecuted for the color of their skin, to be swept away due to their socioeconomic standing and for their willingness to defy tyrannical mandates that benefit only a small percentage of the population, usually those in power. 

Today, immigrants and citizens are one and the same. And they need you. They need us, their Latino community, to stand with them as they stand at the mercy of an anti-Latino playbook designed by White House adviser Stephen Miller and in full execution by President Donald Trump. Because, as much as the Trump administration tries to downplay its mass deportation efforts as a “Make America Safe Again” strategy, we have witnessed the attacks on citizens and non-citizens alike. 

If you look like you don’t belong — working, caring for your community and abiding by the law while Brown — you are exactly the target.

We are the target.

But many immigrants, their descendants and Latinos whose families have called this land home for generations believe this doesn’t apply to them,  It’s as if they've forgotten what it is to fear for your lives on the daily, the terror that comes with being persecuted because of the color of your skin, the community you belong to, the birthplace you claim.

The wave of Latino Trump supporters, a portion of our Latino community that has been on the rise since 2015, is often found at the front of movements that further demonize and wreak havoc on a thriving and diverse demographic that continues to play by the rules, contributing billions to the economy despite our constant criminalization.

Men, sometimes women, are willing to throw their communities under the bus because they’ve allowed the seeds planted by their ancestors, intended to bloom empathy and care, to rot, to cling onto the fungus that is internalized racism and the bacterial infection of systemic oppression, growing and manifesting instead into a self-hating rhetoric.

An internalized hatred that spreads, deepening the infestation of white supremacy and the need to act on it.

This is exactly what we have been witnessing from Latino Trump supporters.

Have you forgotten whose land this was before colonialism yanked it from your ancestors' stewardship?

Have you forgotten the dark history that led you or our parents to flee their beloved lands? The one that pushed your family to seek a better life in a territory unknown?

Your community, your family, your sisters and brothers are feeling it now.

And your apathy, your silence, your complacency in cheering on an administration that has shown zero respect for you, cuts deep.

Nowhere in Miller’s deportation handbook is a section on how to embrace immigrant and Latino brethren. It’s not in the works, despite your efforts to fit into this idealized status quo of the extreme right.

As we witness a move into the far right by many Latinos, especially middle-aged cismen, it begs to question: how does one grow to despise oneself?

Laura M. Padilla, a professor at the California Western School of Law faculty, published an article in 2001 exploring the destructive impact internalized racism can have on Latinos living in the U.S. — and it is as timely now as it was then.

“Internalized oppression and racism are insidious forces that cause marginalized groups to turn on themselves, often without even realizing it,” Padilla writes in her article “‘But You're Not a Dirty Mexican’: Internalized Oppression, Latinos & Law,” and it perfectly encapsulates what we are witnessing from Latinos veering far right.

“When Latinos believe any or all… stereotypes, we devalue each other. We may even come to despise those who we perceive to be most likely to represent those stereotypes — recent immigrants.”

What we are seeing play out has been generations in the making. Can we place blame on a president whose political influence only surfaced a decade ago? Absolutely not. Latinos and immigrants alike have been used as pawns in a failed two-party system that caters to us only when voter turnout is on the line.

No, this isn’t a political issue. This is a human issue.

And it asks of us, of our Latino community, to step back into the embrace of caring for one another, to step back into intentional empathy rooted in collective power, in people power. 

Do not demonize the movement; your tías and abuelas are marching out in the street to protect you. Yes, you — the MAGA hat-wearing, immigrant-hating, do-it-the-right-way hitters — you.

Do not fear your daughter who fights for you — father, mother, primo — so that today, tomorrow, you still have a chance to remain in a country that you have every right to be in. 

Join us because only we fight for all of us. Only we can keep us all safe.