Political trauma is fueling the Latino far right, author says

Journalist Paola Ramos sat down with ABC News to discuss the cultural vulnerabilities facing Latinos during this election cycle as documented in her new book, “Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America.”
Ramos’ book looks at how political trauma has influenced the rise of the far-right in the Latino community, and how this group, in particular, is poised to shape American politics.
Ramos discussed the themes in her book with ABC News’ Linsey Davis.
ABC NEWS: In 2020, a Pew Research Center report found the Latino vote for former President Trump ranked at a narrower margin than the Latino vote he secured in 2016. The small yet growing group of Latinos in the United States are redefining the electorate through their voting trends at staggering rates.
Part sociological analysis, part historical excavation of the vast Latino experience, author, Emmy Award-winning journalist and filmmaker Paolo Ramos’ newest work, “Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America,” looks at just that. And Paola, kind enough to join us in studio. Thank you.
PAOLA RAMOS: Thank you so much for having me.
ABC NEWS: So, you really went to extreme, really, I think, to find these Latino voices who, based on their own experiences, have really — it’s shaped their, in particular, right-leaning political outlooks. Why did you decide you wanted to tell their story in particular?
RAMOS: Well, I think because if even, if you look at the election now, I know we’re five weeks away from November and someone like Donald Trump, regardless of how you identify, but someone like Donald Trump that is promising mass deportations, that has sort of criminalized immigrants the way that he has and is polling at around 40% with Latino voters.
And so I think it’s important to understand “the why.” And I think Democrats for so long have really sort of based their theory of change around this idea that it would be Latino voters that would sort of take them on to the future, that they would be the heart of this multiracial, multiethnic coalition.
And here we are, sort of facing a different reality. And I think you can explain the sort of right-wing shifts through the Trump effect. But I think the more interesting part is understanding like the way that our history, you know, the weight of colonialism, the sort of political trauma that a lot of Latinos carry, like how all of that manifests in American politics is very messy.
ABC NEWS: And you talk about the exploitation of political trauma. What do you mean by that, exactly?
RAMOS: So, even if we think about South Florida now, there’s a reason why Donald Trump sort of always casts the Democratic Party as [the party of the Communists, of communism]. There’s a reason why he says things like Comrade Kamala all the time. And that’s because he knows that there is a section of Latinos that have very real political traumas of fleeing Venezuela or Cuba or places in Central America.
And what Republicans have done I think really well is sort of manipulate that meaning of words, where we’re suddenly staring at a Democratic candidate that is seen as a socialist, where Obamacare is seen as [communism]. And so that manipulation, that exploitation of the political trauma, I think drives a lot of Latinos to truly believe that they’re staring at a Democratic Party that is threatening in the sense that they believe that they could turn into a communist party.
ABC NEWS: There’s also a really interesting concept where you have people who are the descendants of immigrants who now are anti-immigration and really support the kind of rhetoric that says, you know, ‘yeah, let’s just build the wall.’ And so is that surprising? And, and how does that come about? How do people explain to you: ‘Yes, I was able to get in, but I don’t want other people to come.’
RAMOS: I think, very simply, because they don’t see themselves sort of reflected in the immigrant story anymore. And I think when Trump says things like send them back, not build the wall for them and they don’t see themselves reflected in the event.
And if you look at the numbers, it sort of makes sense now, the way that Latinos have evolved, and really many Latinos have become so Americanized and assimilated, and know that even when you ask them, how do you identify? I still identify as a Latina, but there’s many others that see themselves as sort of part of mainstream America. And I always say this, but just because we’re Latinos and immigrants does not make us immune to sort of the anti-immigrant rhetoric nor the xenophobia.
Xenophobia is a very contagious, toxic thing, particularly when it’s driven by fear and the otherizing words. I have also found that there’s some Latinos that because they themselves have been exposed to the discrimination, particularly when I think mainstream media covers the border and sort of covers the caravans, the studies do show that the anti-Latino hate crimes actually spike when we’re all talking about the border.
And, so I think when you combine the anti-immigrant sentiment and the xenophobia in some Latinos’ sort of deep quest to prove that they belong in this country, it can turn into new forms of extremism.
ABC NEWS: What do you see the direction going, the future of the Latino vote, and why is it so urgent to understand it now?
RAMOS: I think in, in this election, it will be crucial to understand whether those inroads that Trump made in 2020 were anomalies or are Latinos truly sort of rethinking where they belong politically?
ABC NEWS: Paola Ramos, thank you so much. What a pleasure to have the conversation with you. I want to let our viewers know you can purchase “Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America” wherever books are sold.