Immigrant Advocates Form JOLT Texas In Wake Of General Election

AUSTIN, TX — To many people, the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency came as a jolt given the consistent lead in polls held by his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and the self-inflicted gaffes committed by the GOP candidate.

That jolt arguably was felt strongest by those advocating for immigrants given Trump's campaign vows to deport 14 million undocumented immigrants, build a brick-and-mortar wall along the southern U.S. border, ban all Muslims from entering the country and establishing a national registry for Muslims already here.

In the aftermath of the election, a new group formed by community activists has emerged, appropriately called JOLT Texas — but not in reference to a lingering effect of disbelief but as a call to action. The multi-issue organization — which aims to build on momentum seen in Texas through record voter turnout during the general election — was co-founded by prominent activist Cristina Tzintzún and Dianne Enriquez of California-based Interfaith Worker Justice.

The two women are well regarded in the area of immigrant advocacy. Tzintzún is the co-founder of the locally based Workers Defense Project while Enriquez has worked with the national Worker Center Network, providing technical support to increase individual capacity and assist affiliates in building a unified worker center movement in the U.S.

"By 2020, the population is going to be 40 percent Latino," Enriquez said of Texas. "That's a powerful statistic. What does it take to get that community to vote?" she asked rhetorically, invoking the central question to be addressed via JOLT Texas.

To motivate the demographic to get to the polls, the group will emphasize the shared values of the Hispanic constituency — a disparate, multi-cultural group of voters that shouldn't be viewed as a monolith. JOLT Texas will emphasize what the various Latino subsets have in common in de-emphasizing how they might differ, Enriquez said.

"A lot of the data points to Latinos being optimistic," she noted, citing one common attribute. "We are a pretty diverse group but share a cultural narrative and a context on shared values, if only we identify a core sets of values and create a sense of wholeness and community."

In a previous email exchange, Tzintzún said the plan was to launch JOLT Texas next year. But a recent pro-immigrant rally outside City Hall that lured hundreds of supporters yielded evidence of an undeterred momentum built even in the wake of Trump's election.

Among the throngs attending the rally were notable people addressing the crowd, including Tzintzún, city council member Greg Casar and Mayor Steve Adler.

But the key for the future goes beyond the occasional rally. Enriquez said the goal of JOLT Texas is to inspire Latinos to visit the polls not just at the national level but for local and state elections as well in order to effect positive change in their communities. Despite the outcome of the election, the number of Latinos going to the polls was impressive — a level of minority voter participation that had Republicans rattled at one point before it became clear Texas wouldn't turn blue after all as they had feared.

"The goal is we build it together," Enriquez said of the envisioned growth of JOLT Texas. "People do care about a fundamental core set of values, they do care about their families and not wanting to stand aside while other communities get treated poorly."

While the aftermath of the election wasn't what was hoped, it yielded much of which to be hopeful, Enriquez said: "This election demonstrated there's a lot of potential and a lot more similarities than there are differences. For us, it's not really about creating something that isn't there, but about building momentum."

The election's outcome is likely to embolden rather than dissuade more Latino voter participation, Enriquez predicted: "I don't think that Latinos are the kind of people that give up. I think that Latinos are fighters. We are hard workers, struggle and care about our families. We're not afraid of struggle, we're not afraid to work hard for what we think our families deserve, and we have dignity."

Of particular interest are young Latinos — those coming of age who will help make Hispanics an even more formidable voting bloc in the future — with whom Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric resonated powerfully.

The Nov. 13 rally yielded evidence of such momentum. At least 200 people crammed the staging area in front of City Hall on a Sunday morning, later to march along downtown streets to reach the gates of Capitol. Along the way the multi-cultural group chanted slogans, buoyed along the way when bystanders would leave the sidewalk as spectators to join them in the cause.

"People are ready to act, and are ready to vote," Enriquez said. "We're not about a party line, but making a space for Latino voters and take leadership on the issues that matter to those communities. We have to work together to build a democracy that works for everyone. Opting out of the voting process is not an option."

To learn more about JOLT Texas, visit the group's Facebook page by clicking here, or their website page by clicking here. The fledgling group also is accepting donations, with a link for potential donors found by clicking here.

>>> Photos by Emily Aspenson, used with permission.