By Marlyn Montilla
Jul 25, 2023, 09:29 AM EDT
The Democratic vice president, Kamala Harris, tried to mobilize the Latino vote in Chicago ahead of the 2024 presidential elections with a speech focused on the economic measures that the White House has taken to create jobs, help small businesses and reduce the price of medicines.
The right hand of US President Joe Biden spoke at the annual conference of UnidosUS, an organization dedicated to defending the civil rights of the Hispanic community and that this 2023 met in Chicago.
“Think of all the work we have done together and what it has meant to so many people in the last two and a half years. Before we took office, many will remember that small businesses were having a hard time. Factories were closing across our nation,” Harris began.
However, the vice president continued, with Biden’s arrival in the White House in January 2021, 13 million jobs have been created, of which 800,000 are in the manufacturing sector, so unemployment among Hispanics is at a record low.
In detail, the unemployment rate for Latinos in the United States stood at 4.3% in June, according to the Department of Labor.
Immigration reform
In addition to his speech based on the economy, Harris mentioned the need for Congress to approve an immigration reform that regularizes the millions of undocumented migrants living in the United States.
Harris’ mention of migrants who work in the fields, the “dreamers” who came to the United States illegally as children, and the beneficiaries of the so-called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that the Government grants to nationals of countries in conflict was especially well received by the public.
“Congress must create a path to citizenship for dreamers, those with Temporary Protected Status, and farm workers!” Harris yelled as the audience erupted in applause.
Worse received were Harris’s words on abortion and the ruling that the United States Supreme Court issued a year ago to end federal protections to that right, allowing each state to set its own rules about when and how the pregnancy can be terminated.
When Harris advocated for the right of women to decide about their bodies, there were several tables that did not applaud.
According to data from the Pew Center, Hispanics in the United States have more conservative views on abortion than the national measure.
Specifically, a majority (57%) consider that abortion should be legal in all cases, a lower percentage than the national average of 62%.
In addition, four out of ten Hispanics consider that this procedure should be illegal in all cases.
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