Biden Issues an Agenda for the US Latino Community

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden smiles at a campaign event at the William “Hicks” Anderson Community Center in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, July 28, 2020.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

A Tuesday Medium post published by Joe Biden and listed as a 36-minute read provides a comprehensive plan for the U.S. Latino community—a sector of voters the former Vice President under Barack Obama is still struggling to excite for the upcoming November presidential election.

The post, titled “The Biden Agenda for the Latino Community,” starts by saying that the presumptive Democratic candidate “believes that the story of America is one of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The Latino community is a core part of the American community and their contributions are evident in every part of society.”

“Our nation’s ability to draw and welcome hard-working, aspirational people from every culture, from every nation is an indisputable strength. Our diversity is the source of America’s constant renewal—the reason we’ve been able to remake ourselves over and over,” Biden continues.

The post then states that President Trump has been assaulting “Latino dignity started on the very first day of his campaign,” saying that is goes beyond the betrayal of DREAMers or the “pardoning a sheriff who has terrorized the Latino community” (that would be this guy, who has a Republican primary on Tuesday).

“It’s in the underfunding of schools, in attacks on labor and the ability of workers to bargain for their worth, and in the neglect of Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria. Trump’s strategy is to sow division—to cast out Latinos as being less than fully American,” Biden adds.

The agenda then lists areas of focus by the Biden campaign:

• “Invest in Latinos’ economic mobility.”
• “Make far-reaching investments in ending health disparities by race.”
• “Expand access to high-quality education and tackle racial inequity in our education system.”
• “Combat hate crimes and gun violence.”
• “Secure our values as a nation of immigrants.”

Each of these areas of focus include comprehensive points throughout the post. There are also two promises listed early in the agenda (both boldfaced) if Biden were to be elected President in November. Those two promises are as follow:

• “Biden will work to establish a Smithsonian National American Latino Museum.”
• “Biden will also ensure that political appointees, including the President’s Cabinet, look like the country they serve, and ensure that our federal workforce is representative of the demographics in our country.”

In the area of immigration, the Biden agenda vows to do the following:

“On his first day in office, Biden will send to Congress a bill for legislative immigration reform that will modernize our immigration system and give nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants a roadmap to citizenship. Biden knows that we can secure our borders and uphold our laws in a way that is humane, just, and that establishes a rational set of rules for aspiring immigrants. He will invest in smart technology that addresses the real threats to U.S. security, ones that primarily come to our country through our legal ports of entry, and he’ll restore our asylum system so that it once more offers protection and safe harbor to people fleeing dangers. He’ll ensure those seeking refuge in the United States are treated with dignity and get the fair hearing they’re legally entitled to receive, and surge the resources to hire more immigration judges and asylum officers to address the current crisis. Moreover, a Biden Administration will immediately review every Temporary Protected Status (TPS) decision made by the Trump Administration to ensure that no one is returned to a country that is not safe, extend TPS to Venezuelans seeking relief from the humanitarian crisis brought on by the Maduro regime, and offer TPS recipients who have been in the country for an extended period of time a path to citizenship through legislative immigration reform.”

Interestingly enough, “The Biden Agenda for the Latino Community” lacks any clear specifics for some topics, such as a comprehensive Puerto Rico or Mexico policy, a comprehensive policy on Latin America (it’s not really “foreign policy” for many U.S. Latinos who follow the region) or any real takes on police reform and the Latino community. The bulk of the agenda has more to do with economic opportunities and health care, as well as the Democratic take of being “a nation of immigrants.” For some, it can feel pretty moderate, safe and middle of the road, although for others, it can feel like anyone but Trump. However, the 2016 campaign proved that Democrats can’t just run on “anyone but Trump,” and it’s hard to tell if this latest Latino Agenda by Biden will close some of the enthusiasm gap his campaign still faces with U.S. Latino voters.

You can access the full 36-minute read here.