What Latino voters in Minnesota will be motivated by this election

MINNEAPOLIS — In the hustle and bustle of Mercado Central in Minneapolis, a hub home to Hispanic businesses, advocacy groups and restaurants, WCCO asked people what they were worried about.

There are 345,000 people in Minnesota who identify as Latino. As a group, they could decide the outcome.

“It really hurt when I heard on the news what kind of language some politicians were using against immigrants,” said Columbia Reyes, a business owner.

While she blames former President Donald Trump and his supporters Negative language about immigrantsShe is undecided about voting.

“Both candidates have good things. If we could combine the two we could probably get one, but at this point I'm still deciding,” Reyes said.

She was the only undecided voter WCCO spoke to Thursday.

“Right now, the immigration issues are people's way of portraying immigrants as inadequate,” said Diego Cardozo, an insurance agent. “I think Kamala is more responsive to the interests of the immigrant community.”

Several people WCCO spoke with are not yet U.S. citizens.

“We are a mixed status family. This means that some of our family members are undocumented, some are citizens and I am a permanent resident,” said Emilia Gonzalez Avolos.

All three of her children and all of her grandchildren were born in the United States and are American citizens. She fears Trump would strip her of her birthright citizenship and make it more difficult to process her citizenship application.

“I am concerned that someone has the power to challenge naturalized admitted residents,” Gonzalez Avolos said.

Although she can't vote, her 15-year-old daughter is volunteering for Vice President Kamala Harris and her son has made up her mind.

“My older son is a salesman and entrepreneur. He’s also voting for Kamala Harris,” Gonzalez Avolos said.

The issue of first-born citizenship came up several times in the Mercado Central.

Trump has said he would like to do that End of birthright rights and that he could do it by executive order.

Hamline law professor David Schultz says that's incorrect. He says The birthright to citizenship is enshrined in the 14th Amendment and it would require repealing a constitutional amendment.