Javier TOVAR

Soledad Herrera has lived in the United States for nearly half-a-century and never cast a single vote. All that will change on November 8.

The 74-year old mother of 10 took the oath of citizenship this week in Los Angeles, alongside 4,000 other immigrants. As new US citizens, they are eligible to vote in the presidential election.

Herrera and other newly-minted citizens can now expect to be furiously courted by US politicians as Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton wrap up months of hard-fought campaigning in their bitter race.

Like vendors hawking wares at an open-air bazaar, Democratic and Republican party volunteers set up stalls outside the cavernous convention center where the naturalization ceremony was held and called out to the new citizens. “Are you registered to vote?” was the constant refrain.

Herrera, who was born in Mexico, stopped to pose for a picture next to a life-sized cutout of Republican icon Ronald Reagan. However when it comes time to cast her ballot, Democrat Clinton, not Trump, will be getting her vote. “She’s a good person, she really is,” Herrera said. Herrera is one of the 55 million Americans of Hispanic descent living in the United States, the vast majority of whom are Mexican-Americans.

Affinity for Democrats

Historically the Hispanic vote leans Democratic. In the 2010 midterm elections, 60 percent of Hispanics voted Democratic, while 38 percent voted Republican. There are regional exceptions such as Florida, where a large Cuban-American immigrant population has traditionally voted Republican. But as the state’s population diversifies, that once solid Republican support is eroding. Trump alienated millions of Hispanics when he kicked off his campaign by deriding immigrants from Mexico as “rapists” and criminals.

The billionaire real estate mogul also said that if elected he would build a wall on the southern US border and make Mexico pay for it. Trump “is someone who has humiliated all Latinos,” said Guatemala-born Beatriz Mazariegos, 34, who also recently took the oath of US citizenship.

Some Hispanics for Trump

Nevertheless Trump has some die-hard Hispanic supporters. One 34-year old man, who refused to give his name, carried a sign that read “Mexico endorses Trump.”

The man said that he’s lived in the United States for most of his life, but has not yet become a citizen.

Trump has shown toughness that could be key in combatting the drug trafficking rife in Mexico, especially along the US border, the man claimed. “The Wall? There is already a wall on the border,” he said. “The real problem is the drug traffickers who are killing judges,” he added.

Rodrigo Venegas, 63, is another Mexican-born Trump supporter. He believes that the former reality TV star “will overcome” a string of self-inflicted controversies that include crude boasts about groping women.

“It’s unfortunate because he is a talented businessman,” said Venegas, who became a US citizen years ago. He accompanied his newly naturalized wife, Mireya Medrano - originally from the Dominican Republic - to register to vote.

Undecided voters

Over the last decade some 6.6 million immigrants have become US citizens, making them a potentially powerful political force.

Rajit Singh, a 38 year-old taxi driver who was sworn in at the naturalization ceremony, has been in United States for 13 years. After the event he registered to vote at a non-partisan election center.

Who will he vote for? “I have to think about it,” he said, refusing to take a stand on any of the campaign’s controversial issues.

Also undecided was Najlah Alneam from Iraq. The 75-year-old woman became a citizen after living in the United States for five years.

Voting “has been a dream for many years,” Alneam said. She spoke no English, and her 45 year-old son interpreted. Who will she vote for? “I don’t know, she doesn’t want to tell me,” said her son, laughing.–AFP