In a dramatic speech on the House floor on Tuesday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL04) invoked meetings with Chicago-area high school students, predominantly of Latino descent, who will soon be eligible to vote, and spoke of how most questions the students asked him were concerning the protection and safety of their families should Donald Trump become president in 2016.
“It is a very sad day when the first question a congressman gets from American high school students are about how much they should fear their own government, whether their own government is going to break up their families, whether their own government is going to treat them not as citizens and as equal partners, but as outsiders and pariahs in their own country,” said Rep. Gutierrez.
The congressman emphasized civic engagement and participation as the foremost method to combat Mr. Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric and alarming immigration policies, stressing the importance of registering to vote upon turning 18. Civic engagement, however, should not be spurred by fears of deportation, the Congressman said, and redirected his speech toward the good that Mr. Trump’s wayward candidacy has afforded the Latino community.
“Donald Trump is spurring youth voter mobilization like I have never seen before,” said Gutierrez, standing next to a photo of Trump. “Nationally, we know that 93 percent of Latinos under the age 18 of are citizens and that every 30 seconds a Latino citizen turns 18. That’s about one million a year for the next decade or so. If they are half as motivated as the young people I’m talking to in Chicago, Donald Trump could have a tremendous impact on the youth vote in the coming election.”
As evidenced by his recent dip in the polls, primary voters are growing weary of The Donald, but with months until the first caucuses, there is much time yet to rise and fall.
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