Journalist Paola Ramos sat down with ABC News to discuss the cultural vulnerabilities facing Latinos during this election cycle as documented in her new book, "Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America."Ramos' book looks at how political trauma has influenced the rise of the far-right in the Latino community, and how this group, in particular, is poised to shape American politics.Ramos discussed the themes in her book with ABC News' Linsey Davis.ABC NEWS: In 2020, a Pew Research Center report found the Latino vote for former President Trump ranked at a narrower margin than the Latino vote he secured in 2016.The small yet growing group of Latinos in the United States are redefining the electorate through their voting trends at staggering rates.Part sociological analysis, part historical excavation of the vast Latino experience, author, Emmy Award-winning journalist and filmmaker Paolo Ramos' newest work, "Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America," looks at just that.
And Paola, kind enough to join us in studio.Thank you.PAOLA RAMOS: Thank you so much for having me.ABC NEWS: So, you really went to extreme, really, I think, to find these Latino voices who, based on their own experiences, have really -- it's shaped their, in particular, right-leaning political outlooks.
Why did you decide you wanted to tell their story in particular?RAMOS: Well, I think because if even, if you look at the election now, I know we're five weeks away from November and someone like Donald Trump, regardless of how you identify, but someone like Donald Trump that is promising mass deportations, that has sort of criminalized immigrants the way that he has and is polling at around 40% with Latino voters.And so I think it's important to understand "the why." And I think Democrats for so long have really sort of based their theory of change around this idea that it would be Latino voters that would sort of take them on to the futu...