For many people, seeing a Latino working for ICE or Border Patrol can feel contradictory.
For many decades, Latinos were often viewed as a monolith by politicians and political strategists. While Latino voters have never been politically identical, there was a widespread assumption that immigration politics alone would keep most Latinos aligned with the Democratic Party.
That assumption was challenged in the 2024 presidential election when Donald Trump won an estimated 42 percent of the Latino vote, up from 32 percent in 2020 and 28 percent in 2016. Particularly among Latino men, his support reached an estimated 47 percent, surprising many political observers.