As Donald Trump inches toward the Republican nomination, people are looking for ways to stop his election season dominance before it leads him to the White House. Billionaire George Soros and other donors put up $15 million for a new campaign, entitled “Families Fight Back,” to engage Latinos and other immigrants from Colorado, Florida, and Nevada, according to The New York Times.
The goal for Immigrant Voters Win PAC – the coalition handling the $15 million and made up of Center for Community Change Action, Latino Victory Project, and America’s Voice – is to get 400,000 new people to sign up as Democrats and vote in the November election. By targeting immigrant populations, this ambitious project is one of a kind. Strategists have also described it as the largest Democratic voter-turnout outreach.
Trump kicked off his presidential campaign by badmouthing Mexicans, and has continued to use dangerous rhetoric. “With the rise of Trump and far too many in the GOP rushing to his side, this election could well turn out to be a referendum not only on immigration reform, but on our nation’s core values themselves,” said Deepak Bhargava, executive director for the Center for Community Change Action, according to NBC News.
Latino Victory Project President Cristóbal Alex said that low voter turnout in Latino communities is due to underinvestment, and donors are just now realizing the importance of this demographic. A future with Donald Trump as president has actually prompted a naturalization blitz, pushing Latinos to become naturalized citizens in time to vote in the presidential election. There’s a currently a rush to get naturalization applications in before May 1.
Other voter turnout efforts include VoterPal, an app introduced at SXSW. America Ferrera and Maria Teresa Kumar, the CEO of Voto Latino, explained that the app is aimed at Latinos. “The whole purpose [of the app] is that they recognize the number one reason Latinos will register is if you ask them,” Kumar told KXAN. “If a friend asks you you feel obligated to doing it. So we are giving every single person at the palm of their hands to go and register their friends.”