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Latino/as’ changing economic fortunes in the wake of the Great Recession and the racist undertones of anti-immigrant rhetoric are major sources of their disillusionment with the Republican Party. While Latino/as have more positive attitudes toward the Democratic Party, their feelings are lukewarm.

Prison gerrymandering is not just bad policy; it is also increasingly running afoul of the 14th Amendment’s requirement of one person, one vote. 

Latino/as distrust of the Republican Party was high even before explicitly racist language became mainstream again this year. Much of this distrust is rooted in the GOP’s discourse on immigrants and immigration, but immigration is not the only policy area in which Latinos and Republicans diverge in opinion.

Yesterday, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) introduced The Degrees Not Debt Act. This legislation would create a state-federal partnership program with the Department of Education, states, and public colleges or universities in order to ensure college affordability becomes a reality for all Americans.

Settlement Ensures Low-Income New Jerseyans Will Be Offered the Chance to Register to Vote

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY and WASHINGTON, D.C, July 14, 2016 — Voting rights advocates and New Jersey officials announced today that they have reached a settlement to ensure low-income citizens are provided voter registration services through public assistance agencies, as required by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). New Jerseyans will be able to access these registration options in advance of the 2016 presidential elections.

Today, Congressman Robert Brady, the ranking member of the Committee on House Administration, introduced the “Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2016.” A companion bill has also been introduced in the Senate. In response, Brenda Wright, Demos’ Vice President of Policy and Legal Strategies, offered the following statement of support:

Confidence in American political institutions is at one of its lowest points in recorded history. About one out of every ten Americans expresses confidence in Congress and roughly one-third have confidence in the presidency or the Supreme Court, according to a Gallup poll from June. By contrast, nearly three-quarters of Americans have confidence in the military; a small majority trust the police.

Despite lore from parents and grandparents about the caddying jobs or serving gigs they used to pay for school, today’s young adults know the idea of working your way through college is about as antiquated as milk delivered daily in glass bottles or Mad Men-era martini lunches.

Average Net Price for Low-Income Students Is Unaffordable in all 50 States at both Public Four-Year Colleges and Community Colleges