Senior Republican figures are sounding the alarm after the party suffered brutal losses among a key voter group, with Latino conservatives warning that harsh immigration policies and a failure to tackle the cost of living crisis are eroding former President Donald Trump's gains.
The Backlash Against Immigration Raids
Despite Trump's previous success in attracting Hispanic voters during his 2020 and 2024 campaigns, his administration's recent draconian efforts to round up, deport, and detain undocumented immigrants—and even some migrants living in the United States lawfully—have sparked significant anger within Latino communities.
This frustration was a decisive factor in the 2025 elections earlier this month, where Republicans bled support across the country. In a stark reversal, Democrat Mikie Sherrill beat Republican Jack Ciattarelli by nearly 15 points in New Jersey's Passaic County, a constituency Trump had flipped just a year earlier, becoming the first Republican to win it since George H.W. Bush in 1992.
The political fallout extended to California, where voters overwhelmingly supported Proposition 50. This was a significant shift, as Trump had also flipped the majority-Latino Imperial County on the US-Mexico border in 2024. The discontent was further amplified when Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to quell opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
The Economic Squeeze on Hispanic Families
Even more pressing for many Hispanic voters, however, is the soaring cost of living. Many feel the Trump administration is doing nothing to correct the high costs at the supermarket and other essential expenses.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a heavily Latino district, emphasised this point, stating, "I think, by nature of the fact that so many of us are first and second generation or third generation, we're a very working-class electorate." She argued that focusing on working-class issues and economic populism is what this moment demands.
This economic anxiety is coupled with a sense of betrayal over immigration. Daisy Reyes, an associate professor at the University of California Merced, told The Independent that many Trump voters with immigrant family members believed their families would not be targeted. "The way that the policy is rolled out is definitely that's not the way it's happening," she said.
A Warning from Within the GOP
The alarming trend for Republicans was not confined to the West Coast. Even in Miami, a traditional stronghold for conservative Cuban-Americans, Democrat Eileen Higgins secured enough votes to make it to a December mayoral runoff, setting off alarm bells.
Republican Representative Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida issued a blunt warning to her party: "Wake up. Wake up." She represents Miami and is pushing her Dignity Act, which would grant legal status to undocumented immigrants who have not broken the law. "The writing is on the wall and immigration is the economy," she said. "We don't have immigration, we don't have an economy."
Other Republican representatives are echoing the concern about economic issues. Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas, whose district spans the largest section of the U.S.-Mexico border, stated, "We're very family oriented people. We want to make sure our family is protected, but our pocketbook matters. It matters a lot." He expressed hope that Trump would pass $2,000 rebate checks to boost support.
While some, like Representative Monica De La Cruz, maintain that Trump has fulfilled promises on affordability and border security, the overall picture from the 2025 elections suggests the party has significant work to do to regain the trust of Latino voters before the next major electoral test.
