As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, the Latino community faces devastating health and economic crises that were exacerbated by Trump’s mismanagement of COVID-19. Throughout his presidency, Trump has made it harder for Latinos to succeed, attacked their health care, pushed cruel anti-immigration policies, and stoked cultural divisions. And now, his failed coronavirus response is disproportionately harming Latinos. Any way you look at it, Trump has broken his promises and failed Latino communities.

Trump’s attacks on health care have disproportionately affected Latino communities. 

• Trump’s health care sabotage jeopardizes significant gains among Hispanic communities. Even during the pandemic, he’s continuing his effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
• Trump proposed massive cuts to Medicaid, which provides health coverage for about 32% of non-elderly Hispanics.

Trump failed to address racial disparities present in the coronavirus pandemic and botched the rollout of aid to Latino small business owners.

• Latino people in the U.S. have been disproportionately infected, hospitalized, and killed by the coronavirus that Trump has failed to contain.
• As Trump failed to mount a serious response to the coronavirus, unemployment has been particularly high for Latino workers and business owners. As of August, Latino unemployment was 10.5%.
• Latinx-owned businesses suffered as the Trump administration botched the delivery of assistance to small businesses hurt by the coronavirus.

Instead of bringing wage growth and job creation to Latino communities, Trump has made it harder for Latinos to succeed.

• The unemployment rate decline for Hispanic Americans has slowed under Trump.
• Latinos were disproportionately left out on the benefits from Trump’s tax law, and many will actually face higher taxes by 2027.
• Trump’s budgets sought to slash funding for SNAP benefits, which help about 10 million Latinos and lifted nearly 2.5 million Latinos out of poverty in 2015 alone.
• Trump’s decision to rescind DACA and eliminate protections for TPS recipients could devastate Latino communities and the entire U.S. economy.
• Trump has repeatedly denied climate science, even as climate change is expected to have a disproportionate negative impact on Latino communities.

Trump has repeatedly stoked racial and cultural divisions to demonize Latinos.

• As president, Trump said undocumented immigrants were “invading” and “infesting” our country. He said our immigration policy should be “you can’t come in.”
• Trump declared a national emergency and illegally diverted money from military construction projects to pay for his border wall. He repeatedly threatened to shut down the government and veto funding for essential programs if taxpayers didn’t fund his border wall.

Trump’s immigration policies have cruelly torn Latino families apart.

• Trump illegally rescinded the DACA program and sabotaged every bipartisan immigration deal that would have protected American Dreamers.
• After the Supreme Court blocked Trump’s attempt to end the Obama-era DACA program, the Trump administration announced it will not accept new applications.
• The Trump administration separated more than more than 5,000 migrant families at the border and put kids in cages, with no system to bring families back together.

Trump treated Americans in Puerto Rico as second-class citizens and delayed hurricane relief efforts to the island.

• The Trump administration held a persistent double standard in its handling of relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. 
• FEMA was unprepared for Hurricane Maria hitting Puerto Rico and did not follow federal requirements to adequately prepare enough supplies before the storm.
• Trump placed blame on Puerto Ricans in the wake of Hurricane Maria’s devastation and opposed providing the aid they needed to recover.
• Trump’s reckless government shutdown over his border wall delayed the distribution of hurricane recovery aid for Puerto Rico.
• Trump defended his publicity stunt of throwing paper towels to Puerto Rican hurricane victims and gave himself “a 10” for his overall response.