Precarious Citizenship and Government Mistrust Among Florida Latinos during the 2016 Election

• In Event: 1255 - Section on Latina/o Sociology Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 1. Citizenship, Politics and Trust

Abstract

As the country faces the third week of a partial government shutdown due to disagreements over spending on border security, many are harkening back to the 2016 Presidential Election, when Donald Trump’s proposed border wall became his primary campaign promise. The 2016 Presidential Election was deeply divisive not only along party lines, but also along lines of race, ethnicity, gender, and citizenship status. Few studies have elucidated what led to the historically-low voter turn-out in 2016, and we still await further information on the impact of Russian interference in the election’s outcome. This study presents preliminary findings on the political emotions and attitudes of 1.5- and second-generation Puerto Ricans and Dominicans on the eve of the 2016 Presidential Election. Data for the paper stem from 42 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in Central Florida, an area with a significant and growing Latino population. I draw on theories of citizenship and government mistrust to analyze the findings. Preliminary findings show that Puerto Ricans and Dominicans had overall favorable views of immigration, but that Puerto Ricans sought to distance themselves from Mexicans to reinforce their status as legal citizens in the U.S., a sign of what I call precarious citizenship. Further, I find that Puerto Ricans and Dominicans lacked trust in the U.S. government, which led many to become disengaged from the electoral process and led some to adhere to government-involved conspiracy theories.

Author

• Shantee Rosado, University of Pennsylvania