It’s been said before, but it must be repeated. Hispanics are not single-issue voters. Despite the narrative reinforced over and over by the Hispanic media and the Latino lobby, Hispanics are concerned about more than just immigration reform. This was recently confirmed in an ImpreMedia Latino Decisions tracking poll that revealed that the economy, not immigration, is the issue of most concern to Hispanics.
Of course, you won’t hear too many of the President’s surrogates mentioning this latest poll, because it’s far easier to cast conservatives as anti-Hispanic for being against illegal immigration. You won’t hear that most conservatives are supportive of increasing avenues for greater legal immigration, because the President is more concerned about winning an election than winning on substance.
Substance is precisely what Hispanics are looking for when we consider what’s desperately needed to return America to what so many of us came here looking for. For the majority of Hispanics who are immigrants and sons and daughters of immigrants, jobs and a chance to earn a better living were the biggest magnets to come here and leave everything behind. Yet, some are convinced that Hispanics are naturally drawn to the idea of a bigger government that is the purveyor of endless goods and services and would never embrace a conservative vision for America.
These are the same people that wouldn’t want us to know that more than 600 Hispanic conservatives and 150 media outlets will be gathering at this week’s Hispanic Leadership Network in Miami with the purpose of delving deep into policy issues affecting our country, including the close to 50.5 million Hispanics.
For example, what can be done to reduce the Hispanic unemployment rate that is well over double digits? Or what to do about the sobering number of Hispanic students dropping out of high school?
Expect freedom, not big government, to feature prominently in speakers and panelists’ responses when talking about pressing issues affecting Americans.
Some might want us to believe that Hispanics are laser-focused on policymakers’ views on immigration reform while ignoring other important issues. Don’t buy it. And as a recent poll in Florida revealed, with a majority of Hispanics saying the country is on the wrong track, there is an appetite for an alternative to the identification politics perfected by the Left.
If this week’s gathering is any indication, Hispanics are heeding the call to live in a country grounded in greater freedom and personal responsibility.
Israel Ortega is the Editor of Heritage Libertad, www.libertad.org, the Spanish-language page of The Heritage Foundation, www.heritage.org. His Twitter handle is @IzzyOrtega.