Democrats and Latinos believe in our American Dream — that anyone can reach it and get ahead. We are fighting for precisely that as a community, as the Democratic Party, and as a country. Granted, the American Dream is not really a dream, it is a reality. I am a product of it, and I will not stop working until all Latinos have the resources they need to realize the American Dream as well.
The Biden-Harris administration has been working overtime to tear down the barriers built during the four chaotic and untenable years of Donald Trump’s racist attacks and policies. In the last four years under the leadership of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, we saw an increase in beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which led to 3.4 million Latinos gaining access to quality, affordable health care. We achieved the most equitable economic recovery in history. The Inflation Reduction Act capped insulin at $35 a month for seniors, our economic agenda created 5 million jobs for Latino workers, and we reached historically low unemployment rates among Latinos. The economic contributions of Latinos would now amount to the fifth-largest economy in the world.
Meanwhile, Republicans are attacking hardworking Latino families and individuals while propelling the richest Americans with tax breaks and perks that are only available to them. The Biden-Harris administration has confronted that by going after greedy corporate landlords, insurance companies, and Big Pharma that prey on everyday families. The facts are clear: Latinos do and have done better under Democratic presidents, and, when elected, Vice President Harris will continue the work to help Latinos get ahead and stay ahead.
In stark contrast, Donald Trump has said that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” Despite the threats he and JD Vance have made against us and our families, we are not going back. Trump and his MAGA extremists are not stopping with their rhetoric, they have a game plan to attack us: their Project 2025 agenda. It would repeal the ACA and kick millions of Latinos off their health insurance while raising the cost of prescription drugs. Trump has promised to implement the “largest deportation program in American history,” and Project 2025 vows to repeal DACA protections — leaving Dreamers vulnerable — and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations, ultimately destroying Latinos’ hard-fought livelihoods. This goes further than his policies as president. It is family separation on steroids — worsening the trauma of what they have done to children and parents, this time at scale.
This Hispanic Heritage Month, we must decide who will fight for us. Democrats are fighting for the middle class and giving people the resources to get ahead by fighting for better wages, lowering costs, and increasing access to health care.
Come November, we will make our voices heard, as we elect Vice President Harris. She will find pragmatic solutions to help Latinos get ahead and support their families. Vice President Harris understands this as the first-generation American daughter of immigrants and civil rights activists who paved the way for her to have a chance to lead the greatest nation on earth as our next president.
We carry the privileged burden of contributing to a country that gave our parents so much. The successes I have achieved are thanks to the contributions my Mexican parents, and generations of Mexicans, made to this country. America is the country of possibilities, and we all deserve the opportunity to fulfill the American Dream without letting go of our roots. Hispanic heritage is something we celebrate every single day — it is who we are, our background, and our culture. We will not allow our country to go back to the past with Trump. We must cast our vote to make Vice President Kamala Harris the next president of the United States to ensure the next generation of Latinos can realize the American Dream.
(*) Monica Guardiola, Co-CEO of the DNC.
The texts published in this section are the authors’ sole responsibility, and La Opinión assumes no responsibility for them.
Disclaimer: La Opinión also invited the Republican National Committee to send an Op-Ed regarding Hispanic Heritage Month, but after three requests, this newsroom did not have a formal answer.
