Wooing Latino Voters On The Border In The Year Of Trump

Jude Joffe-Block reported for National Public Radio about wooing Latino voters on the border:

Arizona's Santa Cruz County on the Mexican border is what Republican operative Sergio Arellano jokingly calls "Democrat heaven." Only 16 percent of voters are registered as Republicans. More than 80 percent of the population is Latino.

Arellano has been trying to lure more of these voters to the GOP, but this campaign season has been tricky.

"What we encounter on the grass-roots is, 'Republicans are racist. Republicans and Trump want to deport everybody, want to build the wall,'" said Arellano.

Arellano, who is 33 and the son of Mexican immigrants, pushes back on this characterization of his party. He tells people a secure border will also protect Mexican migrants from being exploited or kidnapped by criminal organizations. He emphasizes that Republicans stand for creating opportunity and jobs.