Sunshine Sentinel

President Trump is providing safety, opportunity, and prosperity to all Americans — and that includes Latinos.

Millions of Latinos enthusiastically support President Trump and his policies, a fact that’s demonstrated time and again at Keep America Great rallies across the country, but there are still millions more whose lives have been demonstrably improved by this administration’s record of promises kept. Latinos voted for this President in droves in 2016, and they’ll play an even more significant role in securing Donald Trump’s re-election. The reason is clear: Latinos are thriving in President Trump’s America, having achieved the lowest unemployment rate and highest median family income in history, along with rapidly growing wages that are propelling the Hispanic American community to even greater heights.

The President has reciprocated that support, devising an “American Dream Plan” that features a wide range of new investments to support Hispanic-owned businesses, as well as initiatives to expand access to technology, high-quality public education, and other prerequisites to success in the contemporary world.  

"Over the next four years, the American Dream Plan will bring more than 2 million new jobs to Hispanic communities, create over a half a million new Hispanic-owned small businesses — which will end up being large businesses if I know you, and I know you well," he said while announcing the plan during a recent rally in Goodyear, Arizona. 

The progress Hispanic Americans have made over the past four years is going to continue well into the future thanks to the Opportunity Zones created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which are directing billions of dollars in new investment to economically distressed communities all over the country. Previously forgotten Americans in those communities, many of which have large Latino populations, will now have even more opportunities to find good jobs and provide better lives for their families. In place of the cycle of poverty, the Trump administration is creating a cycle of prosperity that will uplift both current and future generations.

President Trump’s commitment to supporting law enforcement and achieving genuine border security is also making our communities safer. The violent crime rate, for instance, decreased in both 2017 and 2018, reversing a frightening uptick in violent crime that took place during the closing years of the Obama administration.

The Democrats, however, want to undo the progress of the past three years by replacing the President’s pro-growth policies with a discredited socialist agenda that would return us to the economic doldrums of the Obama era — or worse. Ironically, the Democrats’ renewed fervor for socialism comes just as the socialist regime in Venezuela is crumbling under the weight of its own inept, corrupt, and tyrannical governance, which has left the dictatorship unable to provide citizens with basic goods and services. 

Whereas the Cuban, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan communities in Florida are all naturally receptive to President Trump’s fierce opposition to socialism, a destructive ideology that has ravaged their ancestral homelands and driven millions to seek refuge in the United States, Puerto Rican voters who predominate in places such as Osceola County don’t have the same firsthand experience with the disastrous effects that come with the sort of policies that Democrats are proposing. 

President Trump’s successful record gives him appeal that goes beyond the traditional base of Latino support for the GOP in Southern Florida. Osceola County, home to the largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the Sunshine State, is in play for Republicans solely because the Trump administration has such a stellar record of promises kept — including creating a strong and growing economy that is allowing Latinos to thrive like never before. 

Donald Trump is committed to making life better for all Americans, and Latinos have been part of his vision of American Greatness from the very beginning.

– Sen. Manny Diaz is a member of the Florida Senate, representing the 36th District.