Make the Road Action Marks Historic Voter Turnout Effort Among Latinx and Black Voters

Leading progressive organization completed 2.5M phone calls and 2M text messages to voters in PA, NJ, NV, and NY

New Jersey –As polls begin to close in key states, Make the Road Action (MRA) members are thrilled to announce the conclusion of a historic voter contact effort, in which the organization has completed three million calls and two million text messages to voters, complemented by digital efforts that have reached millions more. Members of Make the Road Action, one of the nation’s largest immigrant rights and racial justice organizations, have worked nonstop in recent months to mobilize voters in Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Jersey, and New York.

They have focused their efforts on engaging low-and moderate-propensity immigrant, Black, Latinx, and working-class voters to defeat Donald Trump in key swing states, as well as his nativist allies in critical Congressional races, including NJ3 and NJ7. They have engaged voters demanding humane immigration reform, police accountability, workers’ and tenants’ rights, and the rights of transgender, gender non-conforming, intersex, and queer (TGNCIQ) community members.

Members across all of the organization’s states have joined the effort, including many newly-naturalized immigrants and undocumented immigrants who cannot vote but did their part to ensure their neighbors made the community’s voice heard.

Josie Medina, member of Make the Road Action New Jersey from Union, NJ, said, ”As a first-time voter and daughter of immigrants, I saw first hand what my vote meant– not only my family but also for my community. To make sure that we vote out anti-immigrant Republicans and keep protecting our community, I made thousands of calls with Make the Road Action New Jersey to Latinx voters and voters of color in New Jersey’s 7th and 3rd Congressional Districts. The Trump administration has constantly attacked black and brown communities and today we have the power to end it. While we likely won’t know the results at the end of election night, we do know that our community does not give up. We will continue to fight for our community to have the dignity and respect we deserve.”

Javier. H. Valdés, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road Action, said, “Our communities are coming out in record numbers to have our voices heard and defeat Donald Trump and his down-ballot allies. Across our states, our members completed millions of phone calls and text messages to immigrant, Black, Latinx, and working-class voters, who are demanding that our communities be treated with the respect and dignity we deserve. From first-time voters to undocumented phone bankers, our community has shown up and will now demand that every vote be counted.”

Maegan Llerena, State Director for Make the Road Action in Pennsylvania said: “The path to victory in this presidential election runs through communities of color, and that’s why we’ve spent countless hours contacting more than 1.3 million voters in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state, to deliver the win for our country and our communities. Donald Trump’s racist and inhumane administration has targeted Black, Latinx, and immigrant communities—and we are fighting back. We are fighting for a plan to tackle COVID-19, a recovery for all that includes everyone, no exceptions, and we’ll keep fighting until every single vote is counted.”

Natalie Hernandez, Make the Road Action in Nevada’s Deputy Political Director, said, “Trump has governed and run on a fear-based agenda that has divided our country and devastated immigrant families while failing to address the pandemic and the problems of everyday people. We have spent months mobilizing our community for this critical election. Now we urge election officials to ensure that every voice is counted in this election, regardless of how a person chose to vote.”

Barbara Lopez, State Director of Make the Road Action in Connecticut, said: “Across Connecticut, we have seen a wave of high voter turnout in our communities. Our historically marginalized community, elderly, low income, disabled and mono-lingual Spanish speaking voted because they want Trump out. We choose justice over hate.”