NEW FOCUS GROUPS - Inside the Mindset of Latino MAGA Voters

Why core Latino Trump supporters stand firm despite everything.

AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File

A new series of focus groups with Latino voters was released last week, conducted by Rich Thau, president of Engagious, a respected researcher and friend of The Great Transformation. I've covered Rich's work before and will likely feature him as a guest as we approach the midterms.

This particular subset of Latino voters, Trump's MAGA supporters, shows some wavering but remains largely committed to Trump despite ongoing economic turbulence and dramatic ICE raids that have terrorized my home state and other parts of the country.

Having conducted hundreds of focus groups with Latino Republicans over the years, I can attest that these voters support Trump for myriad reasons; there's no single explanation. However, they are remarkably clear about their motivations and virtually immovable in their convictions.

This series of focus groups demonstrates this reality precisely.

Take a look:

Focus groups of MAGA Latinos: Inside the mindset of Latino voters who remain unshakably loyal to Trump's agenda

While much attention has focused on Latino voters expressing "buyer's remorse" over Trump's deportation policies, another story deserves examination: the Latino MAGA base that remains steadfast in their support. These voters view current immigration enforcement not as a betrayal, but as Trump fulfilling his promises.

These aren't persuadable swing voters; these are true believers who see mass deportations, economic hardship, and even courthouse arrests as necessary steps toward the America they voted for.

Frank Ayllon, a 41-year-old sales representative from Miami, captures this mindset perfectly: "I understand some people feel a little bit betrayed because most of us voted him in. I feel like a lot of these people are taking it very personally. And it's not personal. It's just that you've got to understand that this has been an open border for many years."

This perspective, that immigration enforcement represents policy, not personal vendetta, runs through the core of the MAGA Latino base. Ayllon echoed Trump's criticisms of former President Joe Biden, whose administration initially saw record-high illegal border crossings before numbers declined by the end of his term.

For these voters, Trump isn't betraying his promises; he's fulfilling them exactly as advertised.

What makes the MAGA Latino base particularly compelling is how they've embraced the "us versus them" framework that Trump deliberately cultivated. Among longtime Mexican-immigrant residents, many believe newcomers have unfairly received benefits that earlier arrivals never got when they arrived illegally decades ago, benefits that many still don't receive today.

This resentment toward newer arrivals isn't incidental; it's central to understanding why some Latino voters not only support mass deportations but see them as overdue justice. Luis Canales argues that while the Republican president has made immigration his signature issue, previous Democratic administrations were equally willing to enforce immigration laws and deport people who had built lives in the U.S. "It's the reality that if you're here breaking the rules, you have to suffer the consequences," Canales said.

Nowhere is this loyalty more evident than in South Florida, where Cuban and Venezuelan communities delivered crucial victories for Trump. About two-thirds of Cuban voters in Florida supported Trump in 2024, according to AP VoteCast, while roughly one-third supported Harris.

Even as some prominent Latino Republicans begin expressing concerns, the grassroots base remains solid. David Hernandez, chairman of the Los Angeles Hispanic Republican Club, said immigration enforcement actions haven't changed how his group's members feel about Trump.

In Miami's Venezuelan community, support persists despite direct impacts on their own families. Rodrigo Torres, a 22-year-old business owner, said he feels bad for all the Venezuelans affected by Trump's immigration policies, but believes the enforcement helps remove criminals from the country. "There are people getting deported for no reason," Torres said. "But I would still vote for Trump over Harris."

Recent focus groups reveal nuanced thinking within this base. Most Latino Trump voters who participated said they approve of Trump's handling of illegal immigration and his actions broadly as president.

Crucially, several voters supported deportations of undocumented immigrants regardless of whether they had committed crimes. This isn't about targeting only criminals; it's about comprehensive enforcement that many see as long overdue.

"Most of these swing-state Hispanic American Trump voters firmly endorse the president's focus on illegal immigration, though they want more thoughtful prioritization regarding who gets deported sooner versus later," said Thau, who moderated the sessions.

For the MAGA Latino base, immigration enforcement isn't happening in isolation; it's part of a broader economic strategy they support. White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson stated: "President Trump campaigned on enforcing federal immigration law and received a sweeping mandate from the American people to carry out that agenda. The President's winning coalition included historic support from Hispanic voters, with widespread backing among these voters for deportations."

These voters view deportations as necessary for protecting American workers and wages, even if the policy creates short-term disruption in their own communities.

What's remarkable about the MAGA Latino base is their ability to maintain support even when policies directly affect their communities. In the November election, seven in ten Hispanic voters in Florida said they favored reducing the number of immigrants allowed to seek asylum upon arriving at the U.S. border, according to AP VoteCast—a position aligned with Florida voters overall.

This isn't about uninformed voting or false consciousness; it represents a genuine political realignment where economic and cultural conservatism supersede ethnic solidarity.

For core MAGA Latinos, current hardships are viewed as the birth pangs of an America they want to build. They believe strict immigration enforcement, though painful, will ultimately benefit Latino families who are here legally by reducing wage competition and ensuring social services aren't overstretched.

Some hope Trump will seize the opportunity to expand Latino support by creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have been here for years. "If he does that," one supporter said, "I think the Republican Party will be strong here for a long time."

While polling shows Trump's overall approval among Latinos has dropped significantly, the MAGA Latino base represents something different: voters who supported Trump not despite his immigration policies, but because of them.

These aren't voters experiencing buyer's remorse; they're voters who feel vindicated. They supported mass deportations, witnessed mass deportations, and view current enforcement as evidence that Trump keeps his promises.

This base may be smaller than Trump's total Latino vote in 2024, but it represents a durable coalition that sees current immigration enforcement not as government overreach but as overdue justice. Understanding their perspective is crucial for anyone attempting to comprehend the political landscape Trump has created—and the one he's likely to maintain among his most committed Latino supporters.

For the MAGA Latino base, this isn't about being betrayed by Trump's policies. It's about finally having a president willing to enforce the law as they believe it should be enforced, regardless of the political cost.