ICE raids drove Latino voters to fight back at the ballot box, says Arizona state Sen. Analise Ortiz

State Sen. Analise Ortiz said Latino voters turned anger over immigration raids into political action, helping fuel the Democratic wave in the Nov. 3 midterm election.

“We have to look at the rebuke from the Latino community when it comes to immigration,” Ortiz said Wednesday on KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce & Gaydos.

Her comments came after Democrats flipped both chambers of the Arizona Legislature, winning a 20-seat supermajority in the 30-member Senate. Ortiz is set to be the Senate supermajority whip, with fellow Democrat Priya Sundareshan as the Senate majority leader.

“People don’t want their taxes going to cruelty and to tearing families apart, and I think that was reflected,” Ortiz said. “We can’t forget that.”

FOX News exit polls found 60% of Latino voters in Arizona voted for Democratic incumbent Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Democratic leader in Arizona Legislature talks Trump backlash

Ortiz attributed part of the backlash against President Donald Trump’s agenda to young Latino voters whose families had been affected by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

She described hearing from first-time voters who were spurred into taking political action in response to ICE raids.

“You had 18-year-olds who were asking me questions about, ‘How do I register to vote for the first time because they took my family member and this is the only way I know how to fight back right now?'” Ortiz said.

Ortiz argued that the outcome reflected more than voters’ financial frustrations. She pointed to family separations and the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good during immigration enforcement in Minnesota in January as other reasons voters rejected the administration’s agenda.

“This wasn’t just about affordability,” Ortiz said. “It was also about families being torn apart and two United States citizens being murdered by Trump’s secret police force.”

Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Pretti, an intensive care nurse, was killed by federal officers in the same city on Jan. 24. Their deaths sparked nationwide protests against the administration’s immigration crackdown.

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