It Will Take More than Immigration Issues to Sway the Latino Vote

Latinos in the U.S. are looking for a presidential candidate that addresses immigration reform and the economy.

By Rhonda FanningOctober 9, 2015 10:22 am

President Obama gave a speech Thursday night at a dinner for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

“America’s greatness does not come from building walls, it comes from building opportunity,” he told the room.

The comments were directly pointed at several republican presidential candidates on the issue. One that will be at the core of the 2016 election. But does the GOP’s hardline on immigration issues automatically mean Democrats have an easy lock on the Latino voting block?

Victoria De Francesco Soto, a fellow at the LBJ Center for Politics and Governance at the University of Texas at Austin, says immigration is a key point, but not the only important issue.

“Latinos care about education, they care about the economy, they care about the schools that their children go to,” Soto says. “So it’s part of a bigger package.”

What you’ll hear in this segment:

– Will the Latino vote sink the Republican Party?

– What are some of the other factors, besides immigration, that drive the Latino vote?

– What do Latino voters want to hear from the 2016 presidential candidates?