Analyzing immigrants' role in the 2024 presidential election – and what comes next

Documented Co-Founder Mazin Sidahmed spoke with political consultant and activist Luis Miranda and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees President Marissa Tirona on Nov. 20 for an in-depth discussion on the role immigrants played in the 2024 presidential election and how Democrats, immigrants rights activists and others will be responding to President-elect Donald Trump’s next term. The event, hosted in a private home in the West Village, was chaired by Board members Wilneida Negrón and Michael J. Hirschhorn .

In Miranda’s recently published book, “Relentless: My Story of the Latino Spirit That Is Transforming America,” he described many Latino voters as “persuadable Democrats” rather than reliable, committed Democrats. That dynamic, he said, continued to play out in this election.??

“When someone is persuadable, you spend time explaining to them why it makes a difference, and it makes sense to go in a particular way,” he said. “And with Latinos, we come from so many different places, different migrations, different political reality. Understanding those nuances was key.”

Democrats, who have to win over a wide swath of Latino voters to succeed at the ballot box, more urgently need to understand and engage with those nuances, Miranda said, whereas Republicans needed to peel off a smaller share of votes from Latinos. Republicans succeeded in doing so this year by targeting young Latino men in particular. And Democrats are often not putting in sufficient resources to do the work, Miranda said.??

“I spent two years raising money for Latino candidates throughout the country,” he said, “and two weeks before the election – ‘I have this money. Can you spend it in Pennsylvania?’ No. There was a time to do that, which is the problem.”?

As for what's next, Tirona said that community, movement, field and philanthropic leaders will be implementing strategies on all fronts. Community leaders will be looking more toward mutual aid, community safety planning and crisis response, particularly at the local level, Tirona said. Long-term, she said there’s also an urgent need to support narrative work that counters anti-immigrant rhetoric.?

“The demonization of Haitian immigrants in Ohio is a great example of how someone is vilifying an entire community, that demonizing narrative gains traction, and you have no counter narrative at the ready,” she said. “The movement needs to have the resources to be able to respond in that moment.”

Monitoring immigration policies on the ground – and combatting misinformation – will also be key as part of that narrative work, Tirona said.?

“There’s so much misinformation that’s happening that it’s going to be critical, not only to document what’s going on, what we’re going to be seeing in the next few years, but also to make it accessible in multiple languages to empower communities to respond and act.”

As Documented looks ahead, we understand that many immigrants will urgently need trusted, responsive news and information about changing policies on the federal level and how they affect them.?

We’re preparing by strengthening and expanding our service journalism in four languages, and are currently hiring two critical roles. That includes an immigration enforcement reporter, who will cover how these federal changes will affect immigrant communities locally, and a Spanish-language community engagement correspondent, who will create and share reliable, actionable information with our readers. In addition, we will be doing even more to lift up the voices of our audience of non-English speakers and immigrant readers to policy makers, advocates and others who need to understand their perspectives in the months to come. Much of this builds on our Strategic Plan.

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