Building Latino Political Power
| The record breaking turnout of the Latino vote was pivotal to determining the 2020 election outcome. Early data demonstrates that Latino voters were not only crucial in the Presidential race but key to US Senate, Congressional and local races. Mi Familia Vota (MFV)/Mi Familia Vota Education Fund (MFVEF), a leading Latino grassroots organization with the largestfield operation, was an instrumental part of this historic effort. Driven by our mission to build Latino political power, we ran innovative and multi-pronged campaigns to engage Latino voters in key battleground states.
By investing in Latino communities, which have been traditionally neglected and underfunded, we made a substantial difference by strengthening local infrastructures, expanding political consciousness and empowering the electorate. This report summarizes our critical work as a trusted community partner in educating, mobilizing, and empowering Latinos. Through our extensive field operations and year-round initiatives, we succeeded in activating engagement across all levels of government and in driving record turnout particularly by younger Latinos, a burgeoning political force, during one of the most unsettled election periods in modern times. |
Expand the Electorate
Expanding the electorate through direct, sustainable citizenship, voter registration, census education, GOTV and issue organizing in key states.
Support Key Alliances
Forming and supporting key alliances at national, state and local levels to increase civic engagement; providing technical assistance and support to other organizations.
Increase Public Support
Increasing public support for full civic participation in Latino and immigrant communities.
Words from our Executive Director
This election once and for all dispels the outdated notion that Latino voters are a sleeping giant. Our organization, Mi Familia Vota, has proved that once you invest in our community, listen and take Latinos seriously, we will show up in record numbers making our voices and priorities heard. The decisive turnout of the Latino vote was felt at the ballot box across key battleground states. Latinos were motivated by concerns over COVID-19 economic aid, affordable higher education, home ownership, fair immigration reform and environmental safeguards. We will continue our work to build on this momentum led by younger Latinos, who are gathering the winds of political power, so that our community continues to make its mark on the electoral landscape well into the future.
Héctor Sánchez Barba
Executive Director and CEO, Mi Familia Vota
MFV History
The story of Mi Familia Vota is a 501 (C4) that began in California, where generations of Latinos have worked and struggled to make their voices heard; their contributions recognized; and their issues incorporated as an integral part of the American agenda.
1994
In 1994, Latinos suffered a major setback when Governor Pete Wilson, who was running for re-election as Governor, made battling against undocumented immigrants the cornerstone of his campaign. His vehicle was Proposition 187, which sought to deny access to healthcare, public education, and other services to undocumented immigrants. What followed was a divisive and bitter campaign that demonized all immigrants and turned Californians against Californians.
Even though Proposition 187 passed, it mobilized a unified coalition of students, community activists, union members and people of faith that saw Proposition 187 as a xenophobic discriminatory ploy that unfairly targeted immigrants and Latinos for political gain. Passage of the initiative did not stop the mobilization.
1998
In 1998, recognizing the opportunity that this presented to build an expanded and engaged electorate, the Service Employees International Union, (SEIU), founded the Organization of Los Angeles Workers, (OLAW), a non-partisan civic organization. OLAW’s mission was to expand the voice of the Latino community through civic education, citizenship, and voter registration and mobilization campaigns. OLAW’s strategy was to build partnerships with key segments of the community, including business, labor, community organizations, church, and ethnic media, with a goal of creating a culture of civic engagement and activism–one that was broadly embraced and supported.
The initial campaign was called ”Mi Familia Vota 100%”, a theme intended to build on the community’s family values and to cement the belief that, in order to succeed, everyone has to participate; that voting is a social, not an individual isolated act. The OLAW program was also designed to be a year-round activity, not just during election cycles. During off years, OLAW would conduct issue advocacy and citizenship campaigns in order to create an ongoing relationship with the community and to prepare for the election mobilization.
2004
To gauge progress and impact of the campaign, OLAW did polling and extensive electoral analysis in order to determine voter awareness of civic participation and turnout during the election. Results were very favorable and encouraged further investment and expansion. In 2004, civic engagement activities, under the name “Mi Familia Vota” expanded to Illinois, Florida and Maine. Response was overwhelmingly positive.
2006
In April 2006, 3 million people –immigrants and native born; men and women; blue collar and professionals; young and old; all ethnicities—marched to protest against the Sensenbrenner bill in over 40 states and in 140 communities. This was the largest mobilization over a three-day period in the history of this country. The Sensenbrenner bill died without ever coming to a House vote.
This bill served as a wake-up call to the community about the importance of civic engagement and a sense of its potential power. After the marches, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, who had become the successor to OLAW, began working with the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO); the National Council of La Raza (NCLR); Univision; Entravision and Impremedia, the leading Spanish-language media in the United States, to develop a campaign to inform and motivate the Latino Community to participate in the civic life of this country.
2008
The campaign was called YA ES HORA (now is the time), and its national goal was to motivate 1 million Latino legal permanent residents to apply for citizenship. With the participation of over 400 labor, civic and community organizations, 1.4 million people applied for citizenship, surpassing the goal by 400,000 applications. In 2008, MFV ED and its partners turned its attention to the upcoming presidential elections.
2011
In response to the infamous and disastrous SB 1070 “show me your papers” law, Mi Familia Vota led the formation of Arizona Wins. The creation of statewide organizing infrastructure allowed a powerful and coordinated response by multiple organizations to build political power and mobilize the community. The leaders and organizations that emerged from this movement have defeated and removed from public office anti-immigrant and anti-democracy politicians in multiple electoral cycles.
2012
2012-2023
Mi Familia en Accion continued to play a leadership role in national and local coalitions to advance immigrant rights. Our advocacy and support of the DREAMer movement led to the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012 as well as the never implemented Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) in 2014. Additionally, we vigorously advocated for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) with a path to citizenship through our multistate Fast for Families that led to the passage of the 2013 immigration bill in the US Senate. After 2014, our focus turned to state, municipal and local organizing leading to multiple pro-immigrant resolutions and funding for immigrant defense funds as well as the rejection of local policing for immigration enforcement such as 287 agreements.
Mi Familia Vota mobilized to increase Latino voter share across the nation with a focus on the three battleground states of Nevada, Colorado and Florida, where Latinos helped define the presidential race outcome.
2016
Mi Familia Vota mobilizes Latinos across the nation, increasing their voter share in Arizona, Florida and Nevada, electing Latino leaders for local and state office and electing Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada as the first Latina US Senator.
2020
While Mi Familia Vota had actively pursued the defense of our voting rights through the courts in the past, our lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s Waters of The US Rule -which significantly decreased the waterways protected under the Clean Water Act- represented our first use of the tactic to defend our right to a safe environment.
2021
Mi Familia Vota launches its most aggressive and comprehensive campaign to say #BastaTrump, mobilizing in battleground states like Arizona and Nevada, and expanding to Georgia,Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, reaching 7.5 million voters across the nation, contributing to record Latino turnout of 16.5 Million Latino voters and helping determine the composition of Congress with strong turnout for the Georgia US Senate runoff.
2022
Mi Familia Vota continues its #Basta campaigns to defeat election denialists and state leaders that have harmed our community through policies aligned with our Policy Agenda.
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