Increasing Young Hispanics to join the Republican Party

Hispanics are the fastest growing population in the U.S. and recent studies show that 1 in every 4 children are of Hispanic origin (under 30 years old), account for 60% of the Hispanic population, which stands at 50.5 million Hispanics according to the 2010 US Census count. The 2012 Presidential Election was not one that Republicans celebrated with joy. The presidency was lost but Republicans kept the House and won several Governorships. There are many reasons as to what caused the Republican Party to lose the presidential race but one major cause for the Republicans big lose on election night was the loss of the Hispanic vote. President Obama won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote and it was not all due to the promise of “gifts.” One reason is due to the harsh criticism of immigration from members of the Party along with the lack of outreach to the Hispanic communities. The immigration stance and a lack of outreach has come to the attention of the Republican Party now that Hispanics are a voting power that will show up to the voting booths across the U.S. The Republican Party must have a new plan in capturing the Hispanic vote in the upcoming 2014 Midterm Election and 2016 General Election. Below are four points that can assist in capturing young Hispanic voters. 

1) Immigration: Make the message clear that the Republican Party embraces immigration on a legal basis through a process system that meets the law of the land. The message should not start with “self-deportation” because it alienates potential young Hispanics from voting Republican in the 2012 Presidential Election. The outreach of Hispanics is not marginalizing to a specific group, the GOP already marginalizes its targeted voters by focusing on specific voters. All that is asked is to not forget about Hispanic voters and come out with an open hand not fist that reads “self-deportation.”

2) Free Market Capitalism: Embrace the free market capitalistic system that has enriched  Hispanic communities from the Cubans in Miami to the Mexicans in California. If the Republican Party sends a clear message that the Party reflects free market capitalism and what it means to society, young Hispanics could be guided towards the right direction by joining the Party.

3) Community Outreach: Hispanic Republicans such as Senator Rubio, Senator-Elect Cruz, Governor Susana Martinez, Governor Brian Sandoval, Former Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, Former Governor of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuno and other prominent Hispanic Republicans should send out a message to young Hispanics of why they are Republicans and how it is acceptable to be a young Hispanic Republican.

4) Education: Giving the message that education is an empowerment, parents should choose where their children should attend and that all educational institutions should be world-class environments that will keep the U.S. a world-class competitive field.

Written by Jose L. Fulgencio, Publisher of El Republicanos 

Follow on Twitter @josefulgencio51

© All Rights Reserved Jose Fulgencio 2013

Interviewing Angel Garcia, President of the Chicago Young Republicans

A few days ago I had the privilege of interviewing Angel Garcia who is the current President of the Chicago Young Republicans and a lifelong advocate for young Latinos to join the Republican Party. I first met Angel in 2008 at the United States Hispanic LeadershipInstitute (USHLI) Midwest Conference when he was campaigning for Republican Candidate Senator John McCain in the 2008 Presidential Election. Ever since the USHLI conference we have been friends and I recently caught up with Angel to get his perspectives on the recent 2012 presidential election, Republican outreach to young Hispanics and why he is a Republican.

1) Why are you a Republican? It was during the 2nd President (Bill) Clinton election (1996) when my roommate asked me did I know who I was going to vote for and I said yes but I don’t know. That’s when I realized what I stood for and that was the Republican Party because I am anti-democrat (party) because they are the Party of whiners and they always want something. That’s when I knew I was a Republican because I felt closer to them (Republican Party).

2) What are your thoughts on the 2012 Presidential Election? Disappointment, (Governor) Romney was a good candidate. I did not see an established Hispanic outreach plan. The Romney campaign did not come out fighting the negative rhetoric set forth by the Obama Campaign early on in the campaign.

3) What are your thoughts on the fiscal cliff? Is Speaker Boehner doing a good job handling the situation? There is a lot of politics being played, not optimistic and there is no solution being brought forth to the table. In regards to Boehner it still to be seen, not too positive on talks and I don’t know until the end result comes out. Speaker Boehner needs to be more aggressive.

4) What is your current role in the Republican Party? I am part of a 19-member Board of Directors committee - Republican Party. I am also on the Republican Statewide Board and President of Chicago Young Republicans.

5) As a professional in the Chicago area do you feel that your political views set a roadblock? Do your political views affect you in any way? Things have improved. It was difficult a decade ago when it started with six people in a kitchen table but know we are filling events with over 400 people. I do not see a pushback and no threat against my political views. I have met many people in Chicago that are not die-hard democrats just conservative people.

6) Do you believe the Republican Party as a whole is reaching out to Hispanics? The Republican Party is still lacking outreach. Jeb Bush and Senator Rubio doing a good job of pushing for more Hispanics to join the Party.

7) What would you say to young Hispanics out there to motivate them to join the Republican Party? There is nothing cooler and self determined than to join the Republican Party. Do you want to be given a handout (by the Democrat Party)? At what price? Your liberty & independence? Our parents who immigrated to this country did not come for government handouts and for a (Democrat) Party of being in control of ones life.

Angel Garcia has worked on numerous local, state and national campaigns. Currently, Angel serves as the President of the Chicago Young Republicans and is a member of the IL GOP State Central Committee. Angel also has served as President of The John Marshall Law School Federalist Society and as Chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Cook County. Angel has also been a regular political commentator on various local news affiliates including NBC Telemundo, Univision and CBS.

Angel Garcia has a J.D. from The John Marshall Law School, earned his MBA from the Brennen School of Business, and is a lifelong Chicago resident.

Written by Jose L. Fulgencio, Publisher of El Republicano 

Job creation policies matter to Latinos

The Hill's Congress Blog 

By Alicia Criado, policy associate, Economic and Employment Policy Project - 12/19/12 09:00 AM ET

I recently received an email from Vicky, an NCLR supporter, who thanked me for reporting each month on how Latinos are doing in today’s economy. She also shared that she is unemployed and has come to realize that being bilingual is not enough to help her land a job. Vicky does not have postsecondary education has found that employers want the whole package in a worker: adequate training, in-demand skills, and education beyond high school.

Many jobseekers like Vicky are keenly aware of what it takes to stand out in today’s job market, where the ratio of unemployed workers to job openings is more than three to one. Just over five years from now, in 2018, only 10 percent of jobs in the U.S. economy will be open to workers with less than a high school degree. Yet today nearly two out of five (38.4 percent) Latino adults — and almost half of foreign-born Latino adults (47.5 percent) — do not have a high school diploma. These facts are alarming given that by 2050 one in three American workers will be Latino.

It is not clear that the legislators who Vicky and approximately 12 million Latinos helped elect in 2012 understand the needs of the Latino workforce. According to our latest report, Now Hiring?  Latinos and the Job Creation Policies in the South Atlantic, legislators in South Atlantic states have made plans to create jobs without taking stock of the barriers that the burgeoning Hispanic labor force faces. State policymakers are paying little to no attention to the intersections of local job creation policies and current state workforce development, immigration, and transportation systems. Necessary investments in programs like basic skills training, which help Latinos successfully compete for jobs, are often overlooked. Priority is placed on developing and expanding tax incentives to encourage companies to create jobs and endorsing actions like anti-immigrant legislation that hinder Hispanic workers’ access to employment. These choices are to the detriment of workers and businesses alike, thus undermining job growth initiatives.

There is a need for significant policy adjustments at the state level to ensure that jobs in the fastest-growing industries are available to Latinos, the fastest-growing segment of workers. Given the diversity of Latino workers, a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work when developing strategies to meet their unique needs. This is especially true for Latinos in the South Atlantic. Disproportionate numbers of Hispanics in the region possess limited formal education or English proficiency and largely have inadequate access to language training. For example, among Latinos over the age of 25 in Georgia, 44.2 percent have not completed high school and 70.5 percent have limited English proficiency. If we look at this same population next door in Florida, we find that just 26.3 percent do not have a high school diploma and 57.4 percent speak English less than very well. Solutions and approaches must be tailored to local needs.

Now more than ever there is a need for policymakers to ensure that Latinos have a seat at the table to inform the job creation agenda at the state level.  The needs and concerns of the Hispanic community should no longer be an afterthought. The early warning signs uncovered in Now Hiring? Latinos and the Job Creation Policies in the South Atlantic call for serious policy discussions on how to ensure that jobs are within reach for a broader share of workers and their families. It is paramount that in this time of limited resources legislators endorse customized policy solutions that benefit employers and cultivate the workforce for years to come. These discussions can’t wait because our economy won’t work without Latinos.

Criado is a policy associate at the Economic and Employment Policy Project.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/273541-job-creation-policies-matter-to-latinos

Republicans Reconsidering Immigration Reform

"The Presidency" column appears in U.S. News Weekly.

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It's becoming increasingly clear that immigration will be a breakthrough issue next year.
President Obama has been in favor of what he calls comprehensive immigration reform for a long time, which would include creating a "path" to citizenship or legal residency for millions of illegal immigrants.

Republicans have resisted for years, arguing that what Obama wants would be a form of amnesty for unlawful entry into the United States. But the November election showed that this position has alienated many Hispanic voters, who believe the GOP is against them. One result was that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who called for "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants, lost the Latino vote to Obama by more than 40 percentage points, a major reason for Romney's defeat.
[READ: Study Says Not Enough White Voters to Save the GOP]

Now, Republicans are rethinking the whole issue. Among those expected to take the lead are Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a rising star in the GOP, and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Budget Committee and the Republican vice-presidential nominee this year. It's interesting and significant that both Rubio and Ryan are considered possible presidential candidates in 2016. They seem to realize that the GOP needs to make inroads with Hispanic voters in order to recapture the White House in four years.

Former governor Jeb Bush of Florida, another possible presidential contender in 2016, also wants Republicans to move quickly on immigration reform by proposing their own overhaul of immigration laws that Hispanics might support. It was Bush's brother, President George W. Bush, who attempted to get such a bill through Congress several years ago, but he failed because of conservative objections.
There is still strong sentiment in the Republican Party to resist comprehensive reform that is seen to reward people who entered the country illegally by giving them a chance to gain citizenship before those who followed the rules. "The smart Republicans know they can't leave this hanging out there," says Democratic pollster Geoff Garin. "But the Republicans are still very divided against themselves."
For their part, White House officials think there has been enough of a shift on the GOP side that, despite the polarization on other issues, prospects for passage of an immigration bill are brightening.
Adding to the pressure for reform, Latino activists promise to hold politicians in Washington strictly accountable over the immigration issue, and leaders of several Latino organizations and unions have served notice that they will push hard for "comprehensive reform" next year. The groups include the National Council of La Raza, the Service Employees International Union, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Voto Latino.

[READ: Old and Brown: America in 50 Years]

Members of Congress are very aware of the surge in the Latino population that makes alienating this segment of voters close to political suicide. The Hispanic population is projected to increase from 17 percent of the total in the United States today to 31 percent in 2060, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

And a new study by the conservative Resurgent Republic and the Hispanic Leadership Network finds more bad news for the GOP. Majorities of Hispanic voters polled in the key states of Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico agreed with the statement that "the Republican Party does not represent the values and concerns of the Hispanic community." And majorities of Hispanics surveyed in each of those four states said the GOP is "anti-immigrant" while the Democrats are seen as the party that "understands the needs and concerns of Hispanics."


The study adds: "To be competitive nationally in the future, Republicans must do better among non-white Americans, especially Hispanics and Asians. If Republicans achieve [support from] 40 percent or more of Hispanics nationally, they can elect conservative Republicans to national office. Settling for a quarter or less of the Hispanic vote nationally will relegate Republicans to a regional party with few national prospects....Years of harsh rhetoric and punitive polices will not be undone overnight. Fixing a broken immigration system is necessary, but not sufficient to make Republicans competitive in the Hispanic community."
But working for immigration reform would be a crucial first step.

• GOP Rushing to Construct New Immigration Reforms
• Opinion: Reform Must Include STEM Visas
• Does the GOP Need to Change Its Immigration Stance?

Ken Walsh covers the White House and politics for U.S. News. He writes the daily blog "Ken Walsh's Washington" on usnews.com, and is the author of "The Presidency" column for the U.S. News Weekly. You can follow him on Twitter or Facebook or reach him at kwalsh@usnews.com.

Pew Research: Hispanic Electorate set to double by 2030

If you thought the Latino vote played a huge role in the results of this election, just wait 20 years.

The number of Hispanics eligible to vote is set to double by 2030, according to Pew Hispanic Center analysis based on U.S. Census Bureau data, Election Day exit polls and a new nationwide survey of Hispanic immigrants.

The hispanic share of the electorate is set to rise mainly because Hispanics are one of the youngest ethnic groups in the United States. Currently, 17 percent of U.S. citizens are Hispanic but they made up only 10 percent of the electorate in 2012.

“Their median age is 27 years—and just 18 years among native-born Hispanics—compared with 42 years for that of white non-Hispanics,” the research said. “In the coming decades, their share of the age-eligible electorate will rise markedly through generational replacement alone.”Hi

They are calling it the “Awakened Giant,” that is set to dynamically change the demographics of the U.S. in just a short time.

The Hispanic electorate will account for 40 percent of the growth of the electorate from now until 2030 and the research predicts 40 million Hispanics will be eligible to vote in 2030.

The data is not accounting, at this time, for the rates of naturalization to increase because of comprehensive immigration reform and Dream Act initiatives that are being proposed in Congress.

If those reforms go through, the number of eligible Hispanic voters could surge even higher, the research said.

The numbers also depend on the rate of Hispanic immigration to the U.S. which has decreased in recent years.

Despite these variables, the numbers are almost guaranteed to be high enough to determine an election, if they are not there already.

What it means is that there is no longer an excuse for either party to ignore or marginalize the Hispanic vote, because, whether they like it or not, massive numbers of Hispanics will be voting in the upcoming years and losing their votes could very well mean losing an election.

By Regina Conley /// November 17, 2012

http://redalertpolitics.com/2012/11/17/pew-research-hispanic-electorate-set-to-double-by-2030/

Rubio embraces his Hispanic background: I am who I am

Despite rumors he doesn’t want to be boxed in as “the Hispanic candidate,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and likely 2016 presidential candidate embraced his Hispanic background Wednesday morning, saying he can’t change who he is or where he comes from.

“I am who I am. My name is Marco Rubio and I don’t plan to change that,” he said at monthly breakfast hosted by POLITICO Playbook author Mike Allen at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The potential presidential candidate was quick to note, however, that while he is proud of his heritage, “It doesn’t make me better than anyone else. It doesn’t make me more qualified than anyone else.”

Rubio said that, “It’s not that I don’t want to be the Hispanic candidate per se,” but he believes that the issues Hispanic Americans face are the same issues most Americans face.

His comments Wednesday morning echoed his words from a high-profile dinner he spoke at the night before.

“Some say that our problem is that the American people have changed, that too many people want things from government,” he said at the Jack Kemp Foundation awards dinner, at which he was being honored, in D.C. Tuesday evening. “But I am still convinced that the overwhelming majority of our people just want what my parents had: A chance, a real chance to earn a good living, and provide even better opportunities for their children.”

One of those issues that needs to be addressed for the sake of all Americans is illegal immigration, he said Wednesday. Rubio observed that illegal immigration needs to be dealt with comprehensively, but not in a comprehensive package or bill.

“If this country does not have a 21st century immigration system it cannot be what it is destined to be – the greatest country in the history of the world,” he said.

At the dinner, Rubio noted that if he hadn’t been afforded the opportunities he had growing up, including government financial aid for college, he wouldn’t be a United States Senator.

“I would probably have been a very opinionated bartender.”

Wednesday Rubio said he fears that other young Americans won’t have the opportunities he had. ”If I worry about anything, too many young Americans either aren’t dreaming or think those dreams are not accessible to them.”

When asked by POLITICO’s Allen if he say the changing demographics of America as a “danger,” Rubio said he’s call it a “challenge” instead. He added that a challenge is not a bad thing and that some times politicians have convince people why their view is the correct one rather than rely on existing support.

Rubio came to former presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan’s defense saying there was little they could have done to change the minds of liberal Hispanics, but he also noted that people often vote for the person, not the party.

With regards to his own presidential prospects, Rubio would not say if he planned to run for President in 2016.

“I have no idea. I just don’t know,” he said, adding that he could be the commissioner of the NFL after his tenure in Congress instead.

“I keep putting that out there in hopes someone will say, ‘Let’s interview that guy,’ ” he joked.

By Francesca Chambers /// December 5, 2012

http://redalertpolitics.com/2012/12/05/rubio-embraces-his-hispanic-background-i-am-who-i-am/

Young, Hispanic conservatives write manual on why the GOP is losing Hispanics and how they can fix it

Conservatives need to make serious changes to their outreach efforts in order to attract Hispanic voters, according to several prominent, young Hispanic conservatives.

In a document released Thursday, Brittany Morrrett, the Project Coordinator with a conservative Hispanic group The Libre Initiative and Sam Rosado, a freelance contributor on Hispanic issues for Politic365, The Daily Grito and Misfit Politics, along with Michelle Lancaster, a blogger from Texas, and Ben Domenech, a co-founder of RedState, editor of The Transom, and a fellow at the Heartland Institute, provide a how-to guide for conservatives on changes the movement needs to make in order to attract Hispanic voters and why refusing to would be a horrible mistake.

The 2012 elections were a wake-up call to Republicans and conservatives,” they wrote in the manual. “While the chorus of blame and finger-pointing ran rampant on television, radio, the blogosphere and social media, one underlying issue was being commonly accepted: the GOP and conservatives must reverse the devastating trend with the Hispanic vote.”

The main issue for conservatives, they wrote, should be not to win the maximum amount of votes but to promote freedom to as many people as possible.

Nevertheless, they argue that there are concrete things that conservatives can do to show Hispanics why conservatism is important.

The biggest problem, according to Morrett and Rosado, is a lack of “ground game.”

The GOP lags behind the Democrats because for years, the middle-aged to elderly white voting class has been the most reliable voting bloc, and they have traditionally voted for Republicans,” the document says. “Therefore, conservatives and the GOP have never had the need for a major ground effort to bring them to the polls.”

The second step should be to stop “throwing out nothing but Spanish TV ads” and start engaging the Hispanic media.

The document criticizes the GOP for just translating ads into Spanish and sending them to Spanish-speaking areas because it’s the ‘easy’ way out. Instead, it argues, the GOP should actually work with the Hispanic media and approach Hispanics on a more personal level.

The third way conservatives need to change in order to attract Hispanics is to understand that speaking and communicating in Spanish is a ‘must.’

“We hate to break it to some, but while we and many others are of the agreement that English should be the language of government, many Hispanics prefer to speak Spanish within their community,” said Morrett and Rosado in the manual. “We say this only to address the hostilities some conservatives have towards the language. If you are going to reach out to the Hispanic community, Spanish must be a key component of it.”

Finally, the document says that policy does not absolutely have to change but the rhetoric surrounding it does.

Hispanics feel marginalized by the GOP because of the typical “deport them all” rhetoric that many members of the conservative movement promote. Other hard-nosed conservative lines, like calling the granting of citizenship to even one Hispanic immigrant “amnesty,” or refusing to reach a compromise on immigration reform, are doing more harm than good for the conservative movement.

“Racists exist in all movements and to say conservatives don’t have any is a lie,” the document says. “Take a look at several of the threats that conservative minorities get from other ‘conservatives’ and you will see what we mean. This racist and harmful rhetoric often includes terms like ‘anchor babies’ and classless jokes about wanting a ‘free ride’ or being janitors or criminals. These hateful people need to be publicly shamed lest they taint the entire movement.”

They also added that Republican Hispanic figureheads like Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Susana Martinez are ‘false trophies’ of Hispanic outreach because none of them won the majority of the Hispanic vote in their elections.

“It takes more than a Hispanic surname to sway Hispanic voters,” they said.

This document serves as a reminder that conservatives who are on the fence about whether the GOP lost the last election because of its failure to reach out to the the Latino population that they need to get with it before it’s too late.

By Regina Conley /// November 30, 2012

http://redalertpolitics.com/2012/11/30/what-conservatives-are-doing-wrong-with-hispanics-and-how-to-fix-it/

Thoughts on Becoming, Being and Continuing On as a LATINO Republican

Looking over the various exit polls the day after the very first election in which I cast my vote, it was disheartening to see that out of all the Latino voters aged 18-29 years old, only a meager 23% had supported the Republican candidate (Governor Mitt Romney). Since I also fit in this combined demographic, I was simultaneously taken aback by the fact that Obama actually performed better among Latinos than he did in 2008.

 Before elaborating on why it should be no shock to any amateur analyst that the Republicans have encountered an increasingly fleeting Latino vote, allow me to explain what led me to join that 23% of young Latinos who voted Republican in the last election.

       My father is an immigrant who hails from the small, rural town of Salento, Colombia. Upon arriving in the United States in 1982 to escape the chaos in Colombia caused by the interplay of drug cartels, leftist guerrillas, and paramilitary groups he lived in a 1-bedroom apartment with his brother, his grandfather, and 5 other relatives in the inner-city of San Diego.

 After having his initial hopes dashed by a rejection from the military due to a medical condition, my father worked a variety of menial jobs. He started off as a ticket vendor at an adult film theater in a dodgy part of Downtown San Diego. Through the 1980s and ‘90s, he served ice cream, drove trucks, and cleaned warehouses at night. However, after years of laborious effort and honest hard work, he has moved up the societal ladder.

My father today is an R&D aerospace technician with a full family in a two-story single-family house in a middle-class neighborhood. My father, who came from the Colombian countryside, has lived the American Dream in the truest way possible. There is no other country on the face of the planet that would allow any humble human being to achieve so much only through their determination and work.

 Throughout all those years he never took a government handout. He stood on his own two feet and let the grace of God and his aspirations guide him to where he is today. That spirit of individuals choosing their own paths and maintaining a true work ethic are the core principles that drew me to the Republican Party as a young Latino and a son of immigrants.

     Unfortunately, this narrative to which most young Latinos can relate is not the one that is being told. To put it frankly, the election loss was a clear indication that the Republican Party did not place a priority on outreach to Latinos. This preconceived notion of which party represents what is precisely the stumbling block that prevents the GOP from achieving electoral success.

During the long insufferable primary process Republicans allowed more stubborn elements of the party to give the Democrats innumerable chances to characterize Republicans as “anti-immigrant/Latino”.

This was exemplified with all the talk of “self-deportation”, the vicious attacks on Gingrich, Perry, and Huntsman for their “softer” positions on immigration, the Herman Cain border fence gaffe, and the thunderous applause during the Tea Party debate to Bachmann’s declaration that allowing children of illegal immigrants to stay was somehow un-American. After all the dust had settled, it is perfectly (and disappointingly) understandable as to why many Latinos would not cast their ballots for the Republicans.

       Looking forward, there is reason for reserved optimism. There are emerging young Latino leaders in the party that realize the party’s problem with Latinos. Governor Susana Martinez, Senator Marco Rubio, George P. Bush just to name the most visible. Some GOP veterans like Jeb and George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice and others have called for true immigration reform to be spearheaded by Republicans. We can already see Republicans realizing that deporting 14 million people or so is not a viable option and trying to address the issue in a sensible manner with measures like the STEM Jobs Act and the Achieve Act. But there needs to be more interaction with Latinos if Republicans are to win in 2016.

We need to be on the ground, communicating to Latino communities on a personal level. We need to be on the streets of East Los Angeles or Paseo Boricua in Chicago or Jackson Heights in Queens, explaining why conservative policies will lift Latino communities out of the poverty and socioeconomic disadvantage that have come as a result of decades of Democratic representation.

We need to articulate in a non-alienating voice why government programs will not bring economic success, but only hard work in a free market system. A talking head on CNN stating that Latinos share conservative values will no longer suffice, as we have clearly seen. Victory for Republicans can be seen four years from now if the Republican Party wins over the Latino vote from the bottom up.

Randall Ramos is currently a sophomore attending California State University, Northridge, pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Political Science as well as a teaching certificate in ESL. Mr. Ramos interned at the Republican Party of Los Angeles County and worked on Todd Zink's campaign for California State Senate. Other activities include serving as acting President of the newly formed CSUN chapter of the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association.