{
  "id": 11412018,
  "title": "The Well-Funded Fight to Keep Latinos Voting Republican",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/the-well-funded-fight-to-keep-latinos-voting-republican",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-02T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The New Yorker",
    "slug": "the-new-yorker",
    "url": "https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/the-well-funded-fight-to-keep-latinos-voting-republican"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Alfaro, a twenty-seven-year-old youth director at an evangelical church, is dedicating his efforts to converting Latinos into Republican voters. He explained to Cruz that his organization, the Libre Initiative, provides reliable information that is often missing from media and social media. Established by Charles Koch’s political-action committee, Americans for Prosperity, Libre has gained a significant presence in thirteen states, including all the key battlegrounds. Over the past fifteen years, the group has become a major player in Latino voter-turnout operations on the right.\n\nLibre's founder and president, Daniel Garza, decided not to channel its funds into the Senate race in Texas due to its high cost and the belief that the money could make a bigger impact in other states. Garza believes that Libre can have the most significant influence in Michigan, where the group has allocated seven figures to support Rogers, who lost the 2024 election by fewer than twenty thousand votes. Although Latinos make up only about six percent of Michigan's population, they are highly concentrated in certain areas, such as Holland, where roughly a quarter of the city's residents are Hispanic.\n\nLibre has reached out to over one hundred twenty-five thousand voters in Michigan through phone-banking and door-knocking since January. The organization's goals, like promoting comprehensive immigration reform and reducing government size, are at odds with President Trump's policies, including his efforts to build a large deportation operation and his tariff program. In Grand Rapids, Alfaro introduced me to Miguel Mota, a barbershop owner who voted for Trump but has become frustrated with him over immigration policies. Mota believes that Trump's actions have caused him to question his faith, as he feels the President's words and actions do not align with his moral compass.\n\nIn the past, there was room for Libre within the Republican Party, as it aimed to establish a more pro-immigrant and pro-Hispanic wing of the GOP. However, that space no longer exists, with the party now either ignoring or dismissing these concerns. Michael Farage, the ethnic vice-chairman of the Michigan GOP, claims that the party is either unaware of the need for such a wing or simply not interested in having it. Garza, whose parents were migrant farmworkers, finds some of Trump's deportation actions difficult to accept, particularly those involving women and children. He has discussed his concerns with White House staff but feels the Administration is aware of the issues. Despite this, Garza remains committed to Trump's election, having voted for him three times and believes that the MAGA movement has benefited Latinos more than the policies of President Harris.",
  "summary": "Amid deportations and Trump’s lagging popularity, one Koch-backed group has recruited Michigan Latinos to reach more than a hundred thousand voters for Mike Rogers.",
  "key_points": [
    "Alfaro's Libre Initiative targets Latinos to convert them into Republican voters.",
    "Founded by Charles Koch's PAC, Libre operates in thirteen states, focusing on key battlegrounds."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}