Por / By Robert Fuchs, Esq.
When most Latinos in the United States think about immigration, they do not realize that it is the first step to U.S. citizenship for the foreign born. The two most important things about U.S. citizenship are the right to vote so that you are not disenfranchised and the ability to bring your family legally to the United States.
In a democracy the power of the vote
is enormous, as those who have been disenfranchising Latinos for the last 35 years already know. Disenfranchisement means that you are subjugated and oppressed. Voting is front page news
today, now that voting laws are being changed in many conservative states on false claims of voter fraud, and the recent failure of the U.S. Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act.
Even though Latinos in the United States make up nearly 20% of the population, they made up only 10% of
the voters in the 2020 election, and that was a reported historically large percentage never seen before. The
white supremist in the U.S. don’t want Latinos to vote or to have the power of
the vote, and that is why the immigration laws in the U.S. have become restrictive and immigrants have become
criminalized.
You cannot become a voting U.S. citizen if you are not allowed to enter legally, or you are deported at the border when your entry is not authorized or documented through a legal path. Latinos in this
country will never have a say about their future if their ability to enter legally is blocked and their unauthorized entry is criminalized. We cannot let this continue! We cannot allow Latinos to be subjugated and oppressed by taking away their path to U.S. citizenship and their right to be voters!