{"id":5063217,"date":"2025-01-19T18:06:21","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T18:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calatinonews.com\/?p=5063217"},"modified":"2025-01-19T18:06:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T18:06:21","slug":"bishops-latino-community-grapples-with-trumps-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/2025\/01\/19\/bishops-latino-community-grapples-with-trumps-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Bishop\u2019s Latino Community Grapples with Trump\u2019s Return"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As Trump\u2019s inauguration looms, the Latino community of the self-proclaimed \u201cMule Capital of the World\u201d\u2014the city of Bishop, California\u2014remains torn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden took Inyo County<\/a> by the narrow margin of 14 votes in 2020, while Trump won by 267 votes this year, according to an election summary report<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ana Whitmore, a Latina who has spent the past fifteen years teaching TK-5 Spanish Dual Immersion in Bishop and nearby Mammoth Lakes, said she believes the right-wing appealed to the \u201creligious revival\u201d playing out within Bishops’ Latino community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The revival created \u201ca sway back into Catholic and conservative values on issues like abortion,\u201d Whitmore said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Carlos Cruz, a handyman who moved to Bishop in 2007 to provide for his family in Mexico, suggested that Latinos turned to the Republican Party searching for economic relief. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery Latino wants to live better,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd Trump is a business guy. He\u2019s going to raise the country again. Try to make [it] better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruz is not alone. Approximately 52% of Latinos<\/a> rated the cost of living and inflation as their top priorities in this year\u2019s election, and some reports<\/a> point to Trump’s win as a reflection of the Democratic party\u2019s failure to address working-class issues, ultimately leading to Harris\u2019s loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet there is little evidence<\/a> that suggests Trump will prioritize the needs of everyday, working-class Americans when he takes office.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his first presidency, Trump tried to raise the rent for 4 million<\/a> low-income households, force single mothers to reveal their sexual histories<\/a> before receiving welfare, transfer $5.8 billion<\/a> in workers’ tip money to employers, and attack workers’ rights to collective bargaining<\/a>, according to several reports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November last year, Trump announced plans to declare a national emergency and order the U.S. military to conduct mass deportations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This plan could rip apart the 6.3 million mixed-status households<\/a> which account for nearly 5% of the country\u2019s population.

But Cruz said, \u201cLatinos aren\u2019t scared about being deported. Trump was already President, and he didn\u2019t do it that bad for us.\u201d

Trump\u2019s first-term family separation policy at the southern border was described as one of \u201cthe cruelest and most shameful chapters in recent American history\u201d by MSNBC News<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of children were forcibly taken from their parents<\/a> and transferred to shelters nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A string of mules walk past Mexican restaurants during the annual Mule Days parade in Bishop, CA. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography:<\/strong> Robin Linse<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this recent history, Cruz believes mass deportations are \u201cunlikely\u201d to occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like the President is going to take all the hard workers. He\u2019s going to go for the money,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if they do send me back to Mexico, I won\u2019t really have a problem because I\u2019ll just work harder there to build up my country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 1 in 10<\/a> California workers are undocumented immigrants, with immigrants representing 1 in every 3<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mass deportation event would drastically deplete the workforce<\/a>, increasing prices for all Americans by 9.1%<\/a> and slashing the GDP by up to 7.4%<\/a> over the next four years, according to reports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wildfires consuming over 40,000 acres and 12,000 structures in the Greater Los Angeles area as of January 13th have further eased Cruz\u2019s mind.

\u201cLA is going to need a lot of help to rebuild these houses. Who is going to help them but immigrants?\u201d Cruz questioned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Karen Rivas, a Bishop local and first-year student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice was among the 58% majority<\/a> of Latinas who chose Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

Rivas said the fact that 54% of Latino men voted for Trump<\/a> \u201cfelt like a stab in the back as a Latina. This man waged war against Hispanics and women, treating us like criminals and aliens, and you\u2019re still going to vote for that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because Bishop is a small, rural town, \u201cICE doesn\u2019t come here often, but when they do it is a big deal in the Latino community,\u201d Rivas said. \u201cThere\u2019s always this inherent fear of losing my family, losing my parents, because of these threats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Latinos have already withdrawn from the Bishop community for fear of deportation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 14, 2024, some Latino families opted to remove their children from the holiday \u201cShop-with-a-Cop<\/a>\u201d program in which low-income students pick out toys with law enforcement officers, fearing police could record their address and return to search for undocumented residents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Murals decorate the kindergarten hall where Ana Whitmore teaches<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography: <\/strong>Robin Linse<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some families are also worried about sending their kids to school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Trump\u2019s first term, Nancy Hagopian, a Hispanic Liaison at Bishop Elementary, tried to assure parents of their student\u2019s safety with letters and phone calls via the district office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut now parents are afraid that that is changing. You can see kids come here, their mind is somewhere else,\u201d she said. \u201cThey try to play, learn, and all that, but they sense fear at home.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hagopian said her students have told her they don\u2019t want to speak Spanish because classmates told them, \u2018Go back to your country,\u2019 and students playing soccer have replaced insults of \u2018Oh, you\u2019re slow; bad at running\u2019 with \u2018Oh, you\u2019re Mexican.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhether they are Mexican or not, it doesn\u2019t matter. It\u2019s a racist comment equating them with not belonging,\u201d  Hagopian said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, not everyone has noticed tensions rising in the classroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ana Whitmore, the Spanish Dual Immersion teacher, said she remembers her kindergarten students \u201cvoiced concerns over immigration,\u201d during the 2020 election, but \u201cthis time around, I have not heard it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless, Whitmore said she is \u201cnervous for some students.\u201d

\u201cBeing an immigrant myself when I was younger, that was always a source of anxiety,\u201d Whitmore added.

Not all teachers are as open to discussing identity and politics in the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Thursday, Hagopian met with school district superintendent Katy Kolker to discuss designing a class for teachers to better support and empathize with their immigrant students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of political alignment, some Latinos hope to build a more unified Bishop for their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rivas\u2019 father started a soccer group for Latinos over the age of forty, the Seventh Day Adventists started a Hispanic support group, and Cruz hopes to see Bishop\u2019s folklorico dance group perform in the 56th annual Mule Days parade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruz said there is only one way to survive the hard days ahead and that\u2019s realizing \u201cwe\u2019re all family\u2014Hispanics and whites. We have to work together, and keep each other going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Robin Linse enjoys exploring the interplay between culture, language, and the environment as a student at Grinnell College.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some families are confident their hard work precludes deportation, while others are fearful of forced separation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5063220,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,251],"tags":[796,102,25,4965,5619],"ppma_author":[6135],"class_list":["post-5063217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-democracy","category-politics","tag-california","tag-immigrants","tag-latinos","tag-reelection","tag-trump"],"acf":[],"mb":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/01\/Image-6.jpg",2400,1600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/01\/Image-6-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/01\/Image-6-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/01\/Image-6-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/01\/Image-6-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/01\/Image-6-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/01\/Image-6-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Robin Linse","author_link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/author\/robin-linse\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Some families are confident their hard work precludes deportation, while others are fearful of forced separation.","authors":[{"term_id":6135,"user_id":17,"is_guest":0,"slug":"angeles-ponpa","display_name":"Robin Linse","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be12bda74e24857e34f8989434ea8751c72342131a19dc0a28c43c152c50ae47?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"mfb_rest_fields":["title","uagb_featured_image_src","uagb_author_info","uagb_comment_info","uagb_excerpt","authors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5063217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5063217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5063217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5063220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5063217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5063217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5063217"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/caln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5063217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}