Hispanics are America’s largest minority voting bloc. In 2020, President Joe Biden received 61% of our vote, support that’s indisputably plummeted. One recent poll shows the president’s approval rating among Hispanics is an abysmal 26%, and an astonishing 41% “disapprove strongly” of his performance. There are several reasons his Hispanic support has eroded.

COVID: Hispanics, predominantly blue-collar workers who perform a large share of essential jobs that can’t be done remotely, were disproportionately slammed by COVID’s economic and social fallout. Large cities, which have higher concentrations of Hispanics, had stricter quarantine requirements and kept schools closed the longest. These policies, which continued into the Biden presidency, caused Hispanics significant hardships, including an increased educational disparity for their children.

The economy: Fair or not, the American electorate places the economic “buck” with the president. We are experiencing soaring inflation, with the price of groceries, gas and other goods skyrocketing. Because Hispanics are mostly working-class people, these price hikes hit them especially hard. Although several factors cause inflation, it began to spike in early 2021, when Biden signed the massive $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. His assessment of inflation in 2021 as “temporary” was very wrong. And last week, we learned that the economy contracted 1.4% in the first quarter of 2022. This has caused a tremendous blow to the president’s credibility on the economy.

Crime: Urban centers throughout the country, many of which have softened their criminal-justice policies, have seen homicides and violent crime spike. For example, the “no cash bail” reform here in New York has put too many repeat criminals back on the streets. It seems like every day we see some tragic violent crime on the local news. Major crimes in New York City have jumped more than 40% this year. This surge has disproportionately hit Hispanic neighborhoods, like the one where I grew up.

And it’s not just a personal-safety issue. Hispanics are very entrepreneurial. There are almost 5 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States, and Hispanics represent the fastest-growing segment of small-business owners. Companies need safe communities to succeed.

Immigration: A recent poll found 50% of Hispanics disapproved of the president’s handling of immigration, and 31% strongly disapproved. There is a safety concern here. Last year, US officials had about 2 million encounters with people who crossed our southern border illegally, and 23 of those people were on the national terrorism watchlist. And although most of those 2 million migrants were deported under temporary COVID restrictions, hundreds of thousands have entered. Good and responsible government demands that the identities of these individuals be vetted and verified before entering our neighborhoods.

It’s also a matter of fairness. Most immigrants follow our laws and wait years and spend significant resources to come into this country. And who can forget when Biden basically called 62+ million Hispanic Americans illegal aliens by stating, “It’s awful hard to get Latinx vaccinated as well. Why? They’re worried that they’ll be vaccinated and deported.”

And speaking of “Latinx,” although the president uses the term to be more inclusive, it is virtually unsupported in our communities. Polls show that about 2% use the term, while 40% are downright offended by it.

Socialism: My parents were both born in Cuba, but after the Communists took over, the family fled to the United States to give us a better life. That was no easy decision. They had no money, no job, no English and little to no education. But they had a strong work ethic, driven by an even stronger sense of individual responsibility. These virtues drove my immigrant family’s American story.

Over our nation’s 245-year history, these capitalistic virtues, perhaps more than any others, have propelled America. The rhetoric from Biden and other Democratic leaders about empowering the federal government, increasing regulations on the economy and creating more taxpayer-funded social-welfare programs concerns us. Many Hispanics, including those from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, have seen this movie before, and they don’t like the ending.

Adam Rodriguez is a partner at Bleakley, Platt & Schmidt, LLP, a law firm in Westchester County.

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