The key facts

  • A New York Times and Siena College poll: 66% of Hispanic respondents disapprove of Trump's performance, 78% would prefer Democratic control of Congress.
  • In Doral (Florida), restaurant owners report a 40% drop in sales and employees leaving due to fear of deportation.
  • Local Latino Republicans criticize the immigration strategy as not matching the promises of 2024.

Voter Disillusionment

For nearly two years, US President Donald Trump's sweeping deportation campaign has sown fear in immigrant communities, generating a stream of alarming news and social media videos. Now, according to AFP, on the eve of the midterm elections, many Latino voters who helped Trump and the Republican Party come to power in 2024 say they have had enough. Trump promised a historic deportation campaign during the election, but emphasized the detention of dangerous criminals. According to AFP, more than a thousand people are taken into immigration detention every day, and many Latino voters feel deceived.

Doral: Fear and Falling Sales

In Doral in southern Florida — a predominantly Latino city near Miami that is home to one of Trump's golf clubs — residents told AFP that fears of raids have left businesses without staff and classrooms with fewer students. The neighborhood, known as «Doralzuela» because of its large Venezuelan community, could become an indicator of shifting Latino sentiment across the country. Restaurant owner María Fernanda Pérez, 32, told AFP: «I feel sadness and disappointment». She said that when voting for Trump, she had hoped for an improvement in the economy. Three of her employees stopped coming to work out of fear of deportation, and sales fell by 40% as residents began going out less often. «My whole family, all my friends are going through immigration proceedings, they no longer work, they no longer lead normal lives», she added. Pérez declined to say who she would vote for, but declared: «Anyone but Trump».

Psychological Pressure and Unrest Within the Republican Party

Venezuelan-born lawyer Carlos Bermúdez, 47, constantly receives calls from desperate people going through immigration proceedings. «They don't leave their homes, they can't go to work... It is constant psychological pressure, and it affects the entire community», he told AFP. Bermúdez, who describes himself as a Republican, expressed concern about the party's increasingly «extreme» positions: «I am a Republican because I come from a country where communism and socialism took hold, and I don't want a continuation of that ideology, but I disagree with what the extreme wing of the party is doing now». Residents of Doral, as in other communities across the country, exchange messages warning each other about the presence of immigration agents or detentions.

A Warning From Local Politicians

Doral city council member Rafael Piñeiro said he sees the consequences of the campaign not only in his city but throughout southern Florida: «There is uncertainty, there is fear... It is not just Doral, it is the entire Latino community of South Florida». Piñeiro, also a Republican, questioned the administration's immigration strategy: «This is wrong, because it is not what was promised in 2024, when it was about (deporting) criminals». He warned that Trump's policies could undermine Republican gains among Cuban, Venezuelan and other Latino voters in Florida: «That opportunity is slipping away more and more in recent months because of bad decisions, in my view, especially on the economy and immigration».

Poll Data

According to a New York Times and Siena College poll conducted last month, 66% of Hispanic respondents disapprove of Trump's performance, while 78% said they would prefer control of Congress to shift from Republicans to Democrats.