Dreams Deferred: Latino Advocacy and the Politics of Time

• In Event: 3246 - The Politics of Public Policy

Abstract

Confident that the 2012 election had ushered in a new day in Latino politics, national Latino advocates immediately sought to seize the moment and translate electoral results into concrete political gains. Their major priority was comprehensive immigration reform, which they believed was finally in reach. Zeroing in on beltway politics, this paper—a draft chapter for book manuscript—analyzes Latino advocacy for immigration reform in post-2012 period, paying close attention to the role of temporality and specifically, demographic futures, in efforts for and against reform. Although expectations were high, advocates quickly encountered serious challenges to their agenda. Beyond their control were internal shifts within the Republican Party and a public retreat from the election’s narrative about the power of the “Latino vote,” bolstered by new electoral data.

Author

• Michael Rodríguez-Muñiz, Northwestern University