Travel bans and border walls: why Latino Muslims are worried about the US election
Latinos, now representing 9% of US Muslims, juggle their faith, cultural identity and diverse views on Gaza as Harris and Trump race for the White House
On a recent Sunday afternoon at Valley View Park in Dallas, Texas, barbecue smoke filled the air as children took turns swinging at a piñata. Sheikh Omar Hernandez had earlier invited the congregants, all Latino Muslims, to kneel in prayer. A nearby table was adorned with black cloth and bilingual brochures in Spanish and English addressing questions such as “What is Islam?” and “What is the role of women in Islam?”
This was a gathering focused on community, not politics. But with just days until the US presidential election, there was a feeling of uncertainty in the air. Latino Muslims, who make up 9% of the Muslim population in the US, are navigating a highly charged political climate. Donald Trump’s promise to reinstate his 2017 travel ban on seven majority-Muslim countries, his push to keep building a wall along the US-Mexico border and Kamala Harris’s unwavering support for Israel have many […]
