Undocumented immigrants are playing a leading role in the campaign aiming to take him down.
PHOENIX ― Belén Gutiérrez will cast her first ballot in a U.S. election on Nov. 8. But she might have let the opportunity slip by, if not for Berta Rita.
In the weeks ahead of Election Day, Rita has driven 40 minutes into town every afternoon to knock on doors in Phoenix’s heavily Mexican-American West side on behalf of the Bazta Arpaio campaign. When Gutiérrez answered, she said she’d looked forward to voting since she became a U.S. citizen two years ago, but found the process unfamiliar and intimidating. When she couldn’t find her early voting ballot, Gutiérrez accepted an offer for a free lift to her polling station on Election Day.
In an election where GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s farcical attacks against Mexicans and other immigrants have energized the Latino vote, Gutiérrez has a more local reason to cast a ballot this year.
“More than anything, I want to get [Maricopa County Sheriff Joe] Arpaio out,” Gutiérrez told HuffPost. “I’ve got a lot of family here who don’t have papers. I don’t want him after us just because we’ve got Mexican colors. Just because of the color of my skin, they want to stop me and ask for my papers.”
More: Latinos Take Their Revenge On Sheriff Arpaio
Hurray for Latinos! It warms my heart to see them reclaiming their stolen birthright.
PHOENIX ― Belén Gutiérrez will cast her first ballot in a U.S. election on Nov. 8. But she might have let the opportunity slip by, if not for Berta Rita.
In the weeks ahead of Election Day, Rita has driven 40 minutes into town every afternoon to knock on doors in Phoenix’s heavily Mexican-American West side on behalf of the Bazta Arpaio campaign. When Gutiérrez answered, she said she’d looked forward to voting since she became a U.S. citizen two years ago, but found the process unfamiliar and intimidating. When she couldn’t find her early voting ballot, Gutiérrez accepted an offer for a free lift to her polling station on Election Day.
In an election where GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s farcical attacks against Mexicans and other immigrants have energized the Latino vote, Gutiérrez has a more local reason to cast a ballot this year.
“More than anything, I want to get [Maricopa County Sheriff Joe] Arpaio out,” Gutiérrez told HuffPost. “I’ve got a lot of family here who don’t have papers. I don’t want him after us just because we’ve got Mexican colors. Just because of the color of my skin, they want to stop me and ask for my papers.”
More: Latinos Take Their Revenge On Sheriff Arpaio
Hurray for Latinos! It warms my heart to see them reclaiming their stolen birthright.
