Experts in and outside the Republican Party are saying that President Donald Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will hurt the GOP's chances to gain votes from Latinos, according to The Hill.
"It is the topic of conversation in every Latino household," said Luis Alvarado, a Republican strategist. "If this energy can be corralled and focused against Republicans in the 2018 elections, Republicans are going to suffer great losses," Alvarado added.
Democrats could take advantage of the decision, according to Republican strategist Hector Barajas. "It will be a drumbeat on Spanish-language television. It is the drumbeat happening on the news right now and it will be for at least a couple of weeks. There will be a constant reminder from the other side (Democrats) about who ended this program," Barajas said, the Hill reported.
The DACA program provides renewable work permits for people who entered the U.S. illegally, but before they were age 16, and also prevents them from being deported, as long as they meet certain conditions. The program covers 800,000 people.
Antonio Gonzalez, William C. Velasquez Institute president, noted that the effect of the DACA decision has historical context in California in 1994's Proposition 187. That measure barred illegal immigrants from using state services and set up a screening program for citizenship. Republicans have not won a Senate election in the state since.
"That is exactly the danger Republicans face with Donald Trump at the helm," said Republican strategist Alvarado.
Trump's decision will affect an entire group of voters, said Gonzalez. "He has turbo-charged the Latino community against him," Gonzalez said, according to the Hill.
Javier Palomarez, the leader of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, resigned from Trump's National Diversity Council Tuesday over the DACA decision. "There is no letter. This is it, the resignation," Palomarez said.
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