Doral residents describe fear over immigration raids as Republican warns of voter backlash
Latino residents in the Florida city describe disruption to work and daily life, while a Republican councilman warns the enforcement approach could cost his party support.
In Doral, Florida, Latino residents and a Republican councilman described fear and disruption linked to immigration enforcement ahead of the November 3 US midterm elections, AFP reported on October 21. The councilman warned that the approach could weaken Republican support among Latino voters in South Florida.
Doral is a mostly Latino city near Miami with a large Venezuelan population. Residents told AFP that concern about possible raids had left businesses short of staff and classrooms with fewer pupils. People have also exchanged messages alerting neighbours to immigration agents or detentions, AFP reported.
How enforcement fears are affecting Doral
Restaurant owner Maria Fernanda Perez, 32, told AFP that three employees had stopped coming to work because they feared deportation. She said her sales had fallen 40% as people went out less. Perez voted for Donald Trump hoping the economy would improve, but now feels “sad and disappointed”. She declined to say how she would vote in the midterms, adding: “Anyone but Trump.”
Carlos Bermudez, a lawyer of Venezuelan origin, told AFP he receives frequent calls from people going through immigration proceedings. “They don’t go out, they can’t go to work,” he said, describing the effect as “constant psychological pressure”. Bermudez said he is a Republican but disagrees with what he called the party’s increasingly extreme positions.
Why a local Republican sees an electoral risk
Doral Councilman Rafael Pineyro, also a Republican, told AFP that fear extended beyond his city across South Florida’s Latino community. He said the enforcement approach differed from what voters were promised in 2024 about deporting criminals. In his view, decisions on immigration and the economy were eroding Republican gains among Cuban, Venezuelan and other Latino voters in Florida.
A New York Times and Siena College poll conducted in September found that 66% of Hispanic respondents disapproved of Trump’s performance and 78% preferred Democratic control of Congress, according to AFP. Those responses show discontent among the people polled; Pineyro’s warning about Florida votes remains his political assessment.
The immigration debate comes as both parties campaign for the November 3 elections. Trump said he expected to have spent $400 million supporting Republican candidates by election day, The Guardian reported. That pledge is separate from the accounts of enforcement’s effects in Doral.
Read in depth: World
UN warns against early peacekeeper withdrawal from Central African Republic
The UN’s envoy urged the Security Council to preserve MINUSCA’s capabilities as violence persists near the Sudan border and the mission’s mandate comes up for renewal.
Lula makes sovereignty central to Brazil runoff campaign against Flávio Bolsonaro
Brazil’s president is warning of foreign interference before the October 25 vote, while the Bolsonaro family denies his accusations and a close first-round result raises the...
Sources and context
- ‘Anyone but Trump’: Republicans face Latino backlash over immigration raidsThe Straits Times (AFP)
- Trump says he will have spent $400m to support Republicans in midterms – US politics liveThe Guardian
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.