Voter Voices: Immigration is the leading issue among these 4 Hispanic voters

Lucero Morse never thought she would live in the United States. But she moved here from Mexico after falling in love and marrying her now ex-husband, an American citizen, in 2004.

She was legally in the country with a tourist visa and entry permit for 180 days while awaiting the next steps in the green card process. The early years of her life in the U.S. were difficult, and Morse said the vulnerability she experienced as an immigrant has stayed with her.

Morse, now a U.S. citizen, said she initially aligned with the Republican Party. But she worries that others navigating the immigration system today are facing fear and hostility rather than the opportunity to build a new life. This is driving her vote for Democrats in the midterms, including Keisha Lance Bottoms for governor and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.

“Once upon a time I was vulnerable, and I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through,” Morse, 46, said. “(Bottoms is) not going to be chasing Latinos like ICE has been chasing them right now. That’s why I’m voting for her.”

Morse is one of four Hispanic voters who spoke with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ahead of the midterm elections. Hispanic voters helped President Donald Trump flip Georgia in 2024. In the state’s most Hispanic precincts — Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall and Whitfield counties — Trump improved his share of the vote from 2020 to 2024 by 8 percentage points.

Georgia exit polling suggests a 4% shift from Hispanic voters to Trump statewide. The Pew Research Center shows a 12% shift nationwide. In 2024, 52% of Georgia’s registered Hispanic voters cast a ballot.

This doesn’t surprise Bernadette Maturana, who said she is voting for Republican candidates Mike Collins for U.S. Senate and Rick Jackson for governor.

“A lot of Hispanics that have come here through the legal pathway ... we value border control,” she said. “We have come here as skilled, highly educated workers. So, our reality is also very different from Hispanic communities that come here to clean houses or do construction work or farm work.”

Morse, however, said she thinks that Trump voters are more so led by fear.

“I feel really sad that most of the people who are choosing to be MAGA are pursuing a goal based on fear: fear of the stranger, fear of the unknown, fear of all these lies that someone is out to get them and hurt them,” she said.

Morse said she resents the Republican trend toward white, Christian nationalism and their fear of diversity.

“There are many good people who just came here for a better life for their families,” she said. “I don’t think it’s fair to demonize and say that all immigrants are rapists and drug dealers when that is not the case.”

Other issues driving Maturana’s vote are her Christian conservative values around family structures, gender and religious freedom.

“I do greatly value entrepreneurship, the American work ethic, and just the concept and idea of the American dream — that you can build yourself from nothing and become someone,” she said. “And it seems like that’s the story of Rick Jackson.”

Paula and Ernesto Schirmer immigrated to the U.S. several decades ago from Colombia and Venezuela. They still wrestle with feelings of fitting in, describing a recent trip to Rome, Georgia, where they said people gave them strange looks for speaking another language.

“You feel like an outsider still, even though you’ve lived most of your life here,” Ernesto said.

“Especially when other people make you feel that way,” Paula added. “Like you don’t belong.”

The treatment of immigrants under the Trump administration is driving their votes for Democrats down the ballot, including Bottoms and Ossoff.

Morse, now remarried and a foster parent, said she worries for the safety of her kids amid increased activity from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — a crackdown that has mistakenly ensnared some U.S. citizens.

“I love my life here. I don’t like my fear right now here,” she said. “Both of my kids, their skin is not white. And I fear for their lives.”

Both Morse and the Schirmers believe in lawful immigration and border restrictions, but Trump has gone too far, they said.

“(Former President Barack) Obama had the largest amount of deportations before Trump came into power and there were raids,” she said. “But there was no such thing as shooting people on the streets and pulling people out of cars — even pulling U.S. citizens out of cars — just because of the color of their skin. And that’s what is wrong.”

Paula said the growing fear among the immigrant community directly affects her job.

“As a medical interpreter, I have seen the change in people — they’re not coming to doctors’ appointments unless it’s something really, really urgent because they’re afraid,” she said.

Also top of mind is affordability.

“It’s a very frustrating, very stressful time,” Paula said. “How are we going to make it this month? How are we going to be able to cover all the expenses that we have?”

Paula, 56, is a freelance Spanish medical interpreter. Ernesto, 59, was laid off from his job in master control operations because of advancements in automation and artificial intelligence, and is now working part-time at Kohl’s. It’s been difficult to find anything full-time in his field and at his age, he said.

The two struggle day to day with expenses and have to pay for their health insurance out of pocket.

“The price of gas is out of control. The price of groceries is out of control. The price of healthcare. It’s like everywhere you look, it’s awful,” Paula said. “In my 30 years here, I think this is the worst time that I have lived here.”

Voters unenthusiastic about Keisha Lance Bottoms

Maturana said she is voting for Jackson not just because of her conservative values, but because of his opponent. She pointed to the violence in Atlanta in 2020 amid pandemic lockdowns and protests over police brutality.

“Order and safety are two things that are very important to me,” she said.

But even those voting for Bottoms — Paula, Ernesto and Morse — aren’t thrilled.

“We are not extremely happy with the representation of the Democrats, but we want to vote against anything related to Trump and his allies,” Paula said. “We have seen what they have done to this country, and we have been affected directly.”

Morse said she is “unfortunately” voting for Bottoms and that she does not fully trust her after her tenure as mayor.