This year’s national election results stunned many who never imagined Donald Trump’s extreme anti-immigrant politics could dominate the Electoral College, the popular vote, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. Latino voters played a particular role in this sweep, especially young Latino men, who made significant shifts to the right, often voting against the rights of their own families, friends, neighbors, and local businesses.
According to the official 2024 GOP platform, the next Trump administration is set to carry out “the largest deportation program in American history,” separating millions of mixed-status families who have been the backbone of local communities and businesses for decades. These are the same communities where many young Latino men live and work. Under the plan, the administration could invoke an over 200-year-old wartime law that gives the president sweeping power to detain and deport any non-citizen labeled a threat by him—legal permanent residents included. Trump has also promised an executive order on day one to end birthright citizenship, a Constitutional right that gave many of the same Latino men their citizenship and rights to vote in this election.
So, why would young Latino men vote against their own communities and local businesses? As a young Latino myself, I see three core reasons: relentless and deeply funded disinformation campaigns targeting young men online, the lack of a strong alternative message to mobilize young voters, and the Democratic Party’s profound failure to understand Latino voters.
Targeted disinformation
Let’s start with the most obvious issue: targeted anti-immigrant disinformation. Populists have long used disinformation to demonize and scapegoat entire groups, rallying the masses against a “common enemy” they don’t see as fully human. Since 2016, immigrants have borne the brunt of this blame. It’s all too easy for populist politicians like Trump to pin every perceived problem on a population that cannot vote or enjoy the same rights as other Americans. Home prices are rising? Blame immigrants, not the lack of housing. Inflation? It must be the newcomers, not a global pandemic that disrupted supply chains worldwide and drove up prices across all developed nations.
Dehumanizing language is dangerously effective; it justifies horrific actions like separating millions of families and proposing detention camps in the name of “self-preservation.” Much of this harmful anti-immigrant rhetoric has been targeted specifically at young men in online spaces like podcasts and gaming platforms such as Twitch and Discord. Many of these young men genuinely saw in Trump a “strongman” and “anti-establishment” candidate who would restore order—the archetype of any populist leader.
It’s easy to point fingers at young men for being radicalized online. But as historian Yuval Noah Harari reminds us: “The problem is with our information. Most humans are good people. They are not self-destructive. But if you give good people bad information, they make bad decisions.”
This is why United We Dream Action has led efforts to engage young Latino men in online spaces like Twitch and Discord and spearheaded efforts to quite literally “Reclaim the Web.” We have started genuine conversations about immigration with gamers, streamers, and entire fandoms, sharing the stories of directly impacted people and reaching hundreds of thousands in the manosphere. Despite these efforts, more intentional investment and action are needed to protect young men from online radicalization that dehumanizes people in their communities and to fight back against the multi-million dollar disinformation machine that spreads hateful lies every second. This includes advocating for policies aimed at holding tech companies accountable for harmful business models that maximize engagement by amplifying online hate.
Lack of a positive message
Second, the absence of an alternative message to mobilize young voters: Young people repeatedly warned Democrats and the Harris campaign that moving to the right on key issues, such as immigration, would alienate a significant portion of the young voters they needed to keep in order to win.
We were right. Earlier this year, United We Dream Action and our partners at Make the Road Action commissioned polling research in key battleground states to help us understand the types of messaging on immigration that best resonated among young people (ages 18-34). What the research clearly showed was that young voters, including young voters of color, strongly resonated with pro-immigrant messages that emphasized humane solutions, such as expanding legal migration pathways. When it came to the border, they weren’t drawn to candidates promoting harsh policies. Instead, they preferred candidates who recognized the need for a humane, efficient, and fair immigration system. These young voters demonstrated that these values aren’t mutually exclusive; our immigration system should uphold multiple truths simultaneously, prioritizing the full rights and humanity of each individual.
Our research also showed that young voters strongly opposed policies that focused on “shutting down” the border, ending asylum, and separating families. This included young voters who rejected Trump’s mass family separation agenda from his first term in office and President Biden’s extreme restrictions of asylum access. Instead of offering a new vision forward –one that prioritizes and lifts up the humanity of immigrant communities– Vice President Harris leaned into the Right’s framing, promising a “lethal military,” increased border militarization, and continued restrictions on asylum.
As a result, many young voters—including young Latino men—who rejected Trump’s harsh anti-immigrant stance felt no strong pull from Harris’s message and simply didn’t turn out for her.
Since 2008, winning Democratic candidates have secured at least 60% of young voters. This year, Harris won only 54% of those aged 18-29. To put it in perspective: while Trump received roughly the same support as in 2020 (around 76 million votes), Harris drew 9 million fewer votes than Biden did in 2020. This shift to the right is as much about failing to mobilize voters as it is about a lack of clear messaging that set Harris apart from Trump. It’s not enough to simply oppose a candidate—you have to stand for something that moves people.
This year, millions of Gen Zers became eligible to vote for the first time. By 2026, they’ll be the first majority nonwhite generation, bringing millions of young voters of color into the political arena, further shaping the future of our country and democracy. While Democrats may assume that young people will support their party no matter what, this election shows otherwise: Young voters won’t turn out for just anyone. They’re prioritizing issues over any single candidate.
Democrats fail to understand Latino voters
Lastly, the Democratic Party’s profound failure to understand Latino voters: as a young Latino from Venezuela, I’ve seen firsthand the growing disconnect between working-class Latino voters and the Democratic message. Harris’s campaign seemed to miscalculate just how much more Latino voters prioritize the economy over issues like democracy and civil rights. Don’t get me wrong—fighting for democratic institutions and fundamental civil rights is at the center of my work. But it can’t be the center of your campaign for one simple reason: people don’t eat democracy.
This resonates especially with young Latino men, who have leaned into hustle culture and an entrepreneurial mindset, heavily influenced by major online figures like Joe Rogan. For many, concrete economic issues that affect their daily lives matter more than abstract ideas about democracy or their neighbors’ rights. Thinking deeply about American democracy and equal protection rights is a privilege many Latino working-class families simply can’t afford. The absence of a strong economic message cost Democrats significantly.
Democrats also can’t treat the Latino vote as monolithic, ignoring the generational trauma many Latino communities carry. Cuban, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan, and Dominican voters often vote differently than Puerto Ricans and Mexicans. Many still bear the wounds from their experience with authoritarian regimes like those of Ortega and Maduro, and genuinely associate certain Democratic policies with the traumatic situations they fled in their home countries. Yet, the Democratic Party has done little to understand or address these fears. To secure victories in the next two and four years, they must confront this trauma head-on and counter the disinformation campaigns exploiting these wounds.
Let’s be clear: Trump’s win does not give him a mandate to terrorize our communities. He’s laid out his plans. Now, the question is: how will we respond? How will we show up? It’s time to look at the terrain we have out in front of us for these next four years and do everything we can to protect each other.
Whether you supported Trump or not, we will fight for your right—and your family’s right—to live, thrive, and stay in the places you call home. Now is the time for us to push allies nationwide to be unapologetic and bold in their pledges to protect their immigrant neighbors and build solidarity. This is the time to organize and fight back, in an act of profound love and care for the millions of families, the real people, whose absence would devastate us all if they were deported by the next administration.
Featured image: “All Out to Phoenix. A GOTV Weekend” brought canvassers from across the progressive movement to Arizona from October 18-20, 2024. United We Dream Action hosted the mobilization, in collaboration with groups such as Living United for Change (LUCHA), Sunrise Movement, March for Our Lives, and Gen-Z for Change. Photo courtesy of United We Dream Action.