UnidosUS has been on a nationwide listening tour to better understand the barriers that our communities are facing. Latinos are deeply frustrated that their priorities are being ignored by elected leaders in Washington, DC, and so, throughout the fall, UnidosUS visited five cities to meet with members of the community.

As we listened, several common themes emerged: the harmful impacts of federal policy on Latinos’ livelihoods and their daily lives; local- and state-level elevated unemployment rates; lack of affordable housing; and chronic fear and anxiety due to indiscriminate immigration raids.

For example, in Minnesota, we heard that rampant immigration enforcement — compounded by misinformation, divisive rhetoric and safety concerns — gravely impacted the economy of the areas in and around St. Paul.

And Latinos in Philadelphia, PA reported experiencing higher unemployment rates than other groups (7.3% compared to the national rate of 5.3%). Latinos in Pennsylvania are also confronting an “opportunity gap” in the state’s uneven distribution of educational resources: only 20% of Latinos hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, despite the rapidly growing population.

In Rochester, NY, families discussed the deleterious impact of the city’s 3.1% inflation rate, higher than the national average of 2.7%, and the struggle to secure well-paying jobs in a state with a higher-than-average unemployment rate (5.5%).

Affiliates, like Congreso de Latinos Unidos, hosted these conversations in most of the cities we visited; this collective work would not have been possible without the vital partnership of our Affiliate Network.

Similarly, thanks to support from dedicated donors like you, we can undertake efforts, like this tour, that are integral to building power in our community and holding decision makers accountable. These conversations will help shape UnidosUS’s economic agenda for prosperity in 2026.

During the summer of 2025, 9-year-old Madison decided to start a business with the purpose of donating partial profits to charity and saving for college; thus, Madison and Co. Stickers was born. “I’ve loved stickers since I was really little,” Madison explains, adding that, currently, some of her favorite characters include Hello Kitty and K-Pop Demon Hunters.

With the help and support of her parents, Madison organized a pop-up event at her house in October with the goal of raising funds for UnidosUS. “It went amazing,” she says. “A bunch of people stopped by and they loved the stickers. I sold a lot of stuff and got to talk to supportive neighbors. To let them know we were doing the pop-up, we had printed some flyers and put them in doors around my neighborhood.” Madison raised $100 for UnidosUS with her first event!

“My mom and her family are immigrants [from Venezuela] so I’ve learned all about the challenges they faced when they were little and came to the U.S. and I wanted to help other kids like them. It makes me feel proud that I can make a difference to immigrant kids,” Madison shares.

“I want to give a shout out to a few people who helped me: my mom and two best friends, Ariana and Sophia, also my older brother Zachary. My dad made a website for me and we’re creating our own stickers! We already have some designs like a biscotti cookie, sprinkle cookie and marshmallow cookie,” Madison says. But her shop is more than just stickers; she also sells stationery, trading cards, pencils and notebooks.

“I want to do a bunch more pop-up shops and keep donating to UnidosUS,” she says. “I want kids to feel good about themselves in a new country.”

Madison is just one example of how we can all contribute in our own way and aportar nuestro granito de arena. Our strength lies in our collective efforts.

To support Madison’s philanthropic entrepreneurialism, follow her on Instagram @madisonandco.stickers or visit her website www.MadisonandCoStickers.com.

In response to a news investigation exposing the wrongful detention of more than 170 U.S. citizens and the broader pattern of executive government overreach, UnidosUS — as part of a coalition of 23 civil rights, faith and advocacy organizations — called on Congress to urgently strengthen oversight and accountability to immigration and federal law enforcement.

According to ProPublica’s reporting, children were among the citizen detainees, and some individuals were maltreated or held for days without access to legal counsel. Furthermore, the report found that the federal government keeps no official record of how often these detentions occur, underscoring the lack of transparency and oversight in immigration enforcement practices.

Thanks to your steadfast support, UnidosUS is able to help lead efforts calling for Congress to legislate meaningful reforms to prohibit abuses like these and restore transparency in immigration and federal law enforcement, such as requiring body cameras for agents, strengthening oversight of immigration enforcement and ensuring that no individual or family is wrongfully detained again. UnidosUS and partners have also sent a letter to the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee urging additional hearings to further investigate these abuses and explore legislative remedies.

Our collective efforts are beginning to yield some results with Robert Garcia, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, announcing a congressional hearing in Los Angeles to examine wrongful detentions and related practices.

Donors like you make this critically important work possible. These efforts are part of UnidosUS’s Protect, Defend and Advance agenda to ensure that federal immigration policies are carried out lawfully, transparently and with humanity.

To share your story on how immigration operations have impacted you click here.

The expiration of EPTCs is not the only blow suffered by people who buy ACA insurance. Changes enacted by the budget law passed by the Republican majorities in the House and Senate and signed into law by President Trump, as well as policies adopted by the Trump administration, have increased paperwork burdens that make enrollment and renewal more difficult, eliminated coverage for lawfully present immigrants and dramatically reduced the level of assistance people receive to help them obtain and retain ACA insurance.

Americans from all backgrounds will be negatively affected, unless Congress extends EPTCs and retracts other recent cuts to ACA coverage. But Latinos and other people from historically marginalized communities will suffer disproportionate harm. They are particularly likely to need and qualify for ACA insurance, as many work in jobs that do not offer health benefits and earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford health insurance on their own.

Here, we analyze the distribution of ACA enrollment by race and ethnicity and find that an estimated 52% of marketplace enrollees are people of color, including:

• 6.5 million Latinos (27% of all ACA marketplace enrollees).
• 3.6 million African Americans (15%).
• Nearly 2 million AANHPI people (8%).
• More than 100,000 Native Americans (1%).¹

Analysis

Unfortunately, one cannot simply rely on administrative data showing self-reported race and ethnicity. Based on KFF tabulations of self-reported race and ethnicity, 50% of marketplace enrollees decline to state those characteristics. Fortunately, this limitation can be overcome based on other data sources. As explained below, the precise approach varies between insurance offered through the federal healthcare.gov platform and state-based marketplace (SBM) insurance, which is offered on platforms operated by each state.

Healthcare.gov coverage
In publications released through October 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) overcame the limitations of self-reported demographics in healthcare.gov data. For those who declined to provide information about race and ethnicity, ASPE imputed those characteristics, based on other available information about each enrollee. ASPE concluded that in 2024 (the last year for which these imputations are available), almost 55% of enrollees in healthcare.gov plans were people of color (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Healthcare.gov enrollees, by race and ethnicity: 2024 

Source: ASPE, October 1, 2024.
Note: Latinos are Hispanics of all races. All other designations are limited to non-Hispanics. AANHPI = Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Totals may not sum because of rounding.

SBM coverage
Unfortunately, no similar study imputes race and ethnicity into the administrative totals of marketplace enrollees in SBM states. Earlier this year, the Trump administration released open enrollment public use files showing that, in 2025, 17.1 million people enrolled in healthcare.gov plans and 7.2 million people enrolled in ACA plans offered by SBMs in 19 states and the District of Columbia.²

Current Population Survey-Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS-ASEC) data provides reliable information about survey respondents’ race and ethnicity. To estimate race and ethnicity among ACA enrollees in SBM states, we rely on CPS-ASEC data showing the racial and ethnic characteristics of people who describe themselves as enrolled in marketplace coverage in 2025 SBM states. Using this measure, we estimate that people of color comprise nearly half (47%) of SBM enrollees (Figure 2).

Figure 2. People who buy their own ACA coverage in SBM states, by race and ethnicity, 2025 

Source: UnidosUS analysis of 2025 CPS-ASEC data, accessed via IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org.
Note: Latinos are Hispanics of all races. All other designations are limited to non-Hispanics. AANHPI = Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Totals may not sum because of rounding. The states included as SBM states are all the SBM states indicated in HHS’s Public Use Files for Open Enrollment 2025.

Combining healthcare.gov and SBM estimates

To estimate the total number of marketplace enrollees in healthcare.gov states, by race and ethnicity, we apply the proportionate distribution found by ASPE to the total number of 2025 enrollees in healthcare.gov states. We similarly apply the proportionate distribution estimated based on CPS-ASEC data to the total number of 2025 enrollees in SBM states. We conclude that an estimated 52% of all marketplace beneficiaries in 2025 are people of color, including 6.5 million Latinos, 3.6 million African Americans, 1.9 million AANHPI people and more than 100,000 Native Americans (Table 1).

Table 1. Estimated distribution of ACA marketplace enrollees by race, ethnicity, and source of marketplace coverage: 2025 (millions) 

_{Sources: UnidosUS analysis of HHS Public Use Files for Open Enrollment 2025. See also sources and notes for Figures 1 and 2, above.
Note: Latinos are Hispanics of all races. All other designations are limited to non-Hispanics. AANHPI = Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Totals may not sum because of rounding. The states included as SBM states are those described as such in the 2025 Public Use Files.}

Conclusion

Millions of Americans are struggling with unaffordable costs for everyday necessities, including food, housing, energy bills and health care. The last thing they need is a sudden spike in health insurance costs — but that is exactly what they are about to endure, unless Congress finally decides to extend the health insurance tax credits that are scheduled to expire after 2025.

People of all races and ethnicities will pay a heavy price, but an especially steep price will be paid by America’s Latinos, along with others from historically marginalized communities.

^{1 These percentages do not sum to 100% because of rounding and because they do not include people who are of other races or multiracial.} 

^{2 For 2025, 20 state-level jurisdictions operate SBMs: California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.}

Amidst a rising cost of living worsened by higher housing costs and even higher health care costs, Latino voters are putting affordability front and center. UnidosUS’s poll shows rising rents and home prices are shaping votes, and Hispanic voters are seeking candidates who have real solutions. 

UnidosUS’s Bipartisan Poll of Hispanic Voters: The Road to 2026, the largest bipartisan poll of eligible Latino voters with 3,000 respondents, highlights the deep economic concerns driving the nation’s 2026 political landscape — cost of living, jobs and housing. 

Latino voters, America’s second-largest electorate, remain highly concerned about pocketbook issues: 53% of Latinos rank the cost of living and inflation as their top concern. Rounding out the top three concerns for Latino voters are jobs (36%) and housing (32%). 

Housing affordability continues to be one of the largest challenges for Latino families, because the path to homeownership has been increasingly out of reach for working families. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, homebuying has fallen to its lowest level since the mid-1990s. UnidosUS is proud to endorse bipartisan federal solutions that make housing affordable for Latino families. 

Housing concerns are driven by a lack of affordable homes and apartments, the rising cost of home maintenance, and a dwindling path to homeownership. The concern among voters is valid — the median price of a single-family home continues to rise, reaching $426,800 nationwide. With rising rents, half of all renter households are cost-burdened in the current environment. 

The Road to 2026 poll results reveal the top housing issues that Latino voters want elected officials to address: 

• 47% say there is a lack of affordable rental housing. 

• 47% are concerned about the cost of electricity, utilities, taxes, home insurance, home maintenance or needed home repairs. 

• 42% say there is a lack of affordable housing for sale. 

• 40% cannot afford the rising cost of rent. 

• 33% cite homelessness as a concern in their city or community. 

In response to housing affordability concerns, Latinos largely voted in support of pro-housing candidates and ballot measures. As housing affordability barriers deepen, Latino voters are making one thing clear — it’s time to build more affordable homes. 

In New York City, where 15% of voters are Latino, voters overwhelmingly backed three ballot measures to modernize development rules and expand housing supply. The results show growing public support for tackling the city’s housing shortage head-on. Pro-housing momentum spread nationwide, including in Virginia, where 73% of voters say housing is the top issue. Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger won on a bold housing plan. Latino voters delivered a decisive message, with 67% voting in support of Spanberger statewide.  

The Democratic victory was strongest in New Jersey, where counties with large Latino populations flipped left after trending right in 2024 — a trend seen nationwide in November’s election. Facing the nation’s second-largest housing shortage, Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill campaigned on expanding “missing middle” housing, repurposing underused buildings, and strengthening first-time and first-generation homebuyer aid with combined assistance of up to $22,000. 

Latino voters are increasingly voting with housing and economic issues top of mind. Polling indicates that half of Latino voters trust Democrats to lead on housing costs, while only a quarter see Republicans delivering on the issue. According to the poll, if the 2026 election were held today, Democrats would lead among Latino voters 52% to 28%; however, both parties trail their 2024 support — signaling voter discontent.  

UnidosUS’s poll results are a message to both parties: Latino voters will hold them accountable if they fall short on addressing the cost of living and housing affordability. 

In a historic Chicago neighborhood, UnidosUS, the Raza Development Fund and The Resurrection Project are driving meaningful change through community-driven housing development. As The Resurrection Project celebrates 35 years, we reflect on their decadeslong commitment to empowering Latino families and immigrants by turning their dream of homeownership into reality.   

In Chicago’s historic Back of the Yards neighborhood, a quiet transformation is underway. Block by block, families are turning the dream of homeownership into a reality through community-driven development.  

Earlier this summer, UnidosUS, along with the Raza Development Fund (RDF), visited longtime Affiliate The Resurrection Project to witness this transformation firsthand. Thanks to support from corporate partners, UnidosUS partnered with The Resurrection Project to drive meaningful change as part of its longer-term goal of adding 4 million new Latino homeowners by 2030.

This year, The Resurrection Project celebrates its 35th anniversary, a milestone that reflects the organization’s decadeslong commitment to empowering Latino and immigrant communities. Since its founding, The Resurrection Project has grown from a grassroots advocacy organization into a pillar of Chicago’s southwest communities, providing critical services to many Latino families.  

At UnidosUS, we know that national reach only goes so far. What’s crucial are the deep, trusted community relationships, and that’s why partnerships with local organizations and with funders who make them possible are at the heart of our impact and showcase how strategic investments are helping families build generational wealth — one home at a time.
 

The Resurrection Project’s efforts with Back of the Yards are a reflection of UnidosUS’s HOME (Homeownership Means Equity) initiative goals. Back of the Yards has long been a vital part of Chicago’s South Side, but, like other Latino and immigrant neighborhoods, it faces challenges related to housing supply and affordability. Local organizations like The Resurrection Project have been at the forefront working to revitalize neighborhoods and continued investment is needed to expand their reach and deepen their impact. Together, with partners and through an initiative called Reclaiming Chicago, The Resurrection Project has plans to build 1,000 homes on the Chicago’s west side and another 1,000 homes on the southside — and they are well on their way! 

This collaboration is a powerful example of how corporate philanthropy, national coordination and local leadership can come together to drive change. UnidosUS is proud to work alongside The Resurrection Project and grateful to corporate partners for their commitment to investing in Latino communities.  

Together, we’re not just making change. We’re building a model for how it happens. 

Housing affordability remains a top concern among Hispanic voters — and it’s an urgent crisis felt across the country. This fall, Congress took an important step forward with the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act. Learn why UnidosUS is endorsing it as a promising opportunity to expand affordable housing and strengthen communities.  

For millions of Latino families, the dream of owning a home has never felt further out of reach. A recent UnidosUS poll found that housing affordability currently ranks among the top concerns for Hispanic voters, a reflection of an urgent crisis impacting communities nationwide.   

That concern is justified. The path to homeownership has been increasingly out of reach for working families. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, homebuying has fallen to its lowest level since the mid-1990s due to high prices, soaring interest rates and a shortage of affordable homes. This week, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that the median age of a first-time homeowner hit a record high of 40 years old, while the share of first-time homebuyers fell to a record low of 21%. 

Yet amid growing concern, there is reason for hope. UnidosUS strongly endorses the inclusion of the HOME Reform Act of 2025 in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), introduced by Housing & Insurance Subcommittee Chairman Mike Flood (R-NE) and Ranking Member Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO). The HOME Reform Act builds on momentum to tackle the housing shortage by allowing HOME funds for housing-related infrastructure, easing federal requirements and expanding tools for housing preservation and development to build homes faster and more efficiently. 

Additionally, this fall, Congress took an important step forward with the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act of 2025  — a comprehensive, bipartisan plan to expand affordable housing and strengthen communities. The ROAD to Housing Act passed the full Senate, and the package represents the most significant federal housing legislation since the 2008 financial crisis. The Act includes 40 provisions designed to close America’s housing supply gap, modernize zoning rules, invest in financial literacy and expand access to homeownership. The bill was incorporated into the Senate-passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and now awaits reconciliation with the House version. 

The legislation, championed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), shows that bipartisan collaboration is instrumental when it comes to solving problems that affect every community. UnidosUS is proud to endorse both the ROAD to Housing Act and the HOME Reform Act, which reflect many of the priorities we have championed for years as part of our Homeownership Means Equity (HOME) initiative. 

Among ROAD’s most promising provisions: 

• Reforms to housing counseling and financial literacy programs: Expands housing counseling to borrowers who are 60 days or more delinquent on their mortgages and pays for this service through the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.  

• Housing Supply Frameworks Act: Supports modernizing local zoning and land-use policies by requiring the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to convene a task force to develop and promote best practices for zoning and land-use reform.  

• Build More Housing Near Transit Act: Encourages construction of new housing by incentivizing local governments to build more housing near public transportation hubs and ensure that new public transportation investments align with new housing opportunities. 

• Reforming Disaster Recovery Act: Permanently authorizes HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding, streamlining the federal response to disasters to speed up the rehabilitation process for up to one year. 

• Rural Housing Service Reform Act: Reforms the Rural Housing Service by separating rental assistance from expiring mortgages to help keep rural housing affordable. 
• Appraisal Modernization Act: This act would require lenders to adopt clear, uniform policies to ensure fair and consistent treatment for consumers who challenge an appraisal or request a second appraisal.

These reforms would expand housing supply and would create more opportunities to empower local communities, expand access to homeownership and advance economic prosperity for millions of families. 

One aspect of the legislation that can be improved is to address HUD’s Housing Counseling Assistance Program, which serves 1 million households a year. The ROAD to Housing Act’s section on Housing Counseling and Financial Literacy Programs authorizes HUD to evaluate and penalize housing counseling agencies deemed “poor performers” by subjecting them to additional oversight or revoking their certification. Housing counselors are a qualified workforce that already obtains comprehensive training and HUD certification to be practitioners in the industry and to serve our communities. This unnecessary provision could have unintended consequences for housing counseling agencies. Many community-based housing counseling organizations already face steep workforce shortages and funding constraints. The addition of new penalties or training mandates could further strain their capacity, especially in Latino and other underserved communities that depend on these services the most. 

Congress now has a rare opportunity to deliver a historic bipartisan win on housing. As lawmakers reconcile the final NDAA, they should ensure that the ROAD to Housing Act and the HOME Reform Act are included in the bill package — and that it protects, not burdens, the counselors on the front lines of this crisis.  

At a time when the dream of homeownership is slipping away for too many Americans, this legislation offers a clear path forward. Congress should take it. Both the ROAD to Housing Act and HOME Reform Act provide the bold solutions needed to strengthen economic security and promote prosperity amid today’s housing crisis.

UnidosUS is advocating for the advancement of both acts in the House. We will continue to weigh in on the importance of expanding the supply of affordable housing supply to lower costs and create economic prosperity for Latinos nationwide. 

As if a government shutdown weren’t enough, the administration is now choosing to make it even harder for struggling families to afford food by halting the nation’s most important anti-hunger program.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps 42 million people, including 10 million Latinos, put food on the table each month. Four out of every five SNAP families include children, older adults or people with disabilities, and the vast majority are working families struggling to afford groceries. More than a million veterans rely on SNAP to help pay for groceries each month.

SNAP also strengthens the economy, helping small businesses keep their doors open and preventing large companies from laying off workers. During economic downturns, each month of SNAP spending generates $12 billion in economic activity, preserves more than 100,000 jobs and generates over $200 million in farm revenue.

No previous administration has ever let SNAP lapse during a government-shutdown. Legal experts believe SNAP must continue, despite the current shutdown — a position the U.S. Department of Agriculture publicly shared until just a few days ago.

This choice to let SNAP close its doors for the first time in the history of government shutdowns unfortunately comes as no surprise. Last summer, the budget law backed by Republican majorities in the House and Senate and signed by the President slashed SNAP by nearly $200 billion, making the largest cuts to SNAP since the program’s creation in the 1930s. As a result, 20 million families will receive less help paying for groceries. Five million of those families will suffer especially deep cuts averaging $1,700 a year — and two-thirds of those cuts will directly affect children. Even if, as we hope, the administration rethinks its position and decides to keep SNAP open during the current shutdown — or if litigation forces a change in administration policy — the federal budget law enacted this year under the Trump administration will still condemn millions of vulnerable Americans to needless poverty and hunger.

Americans of all backgrounds will suffer, but the Latino community will experience particularly deep harm. More than one in five Latino families already does not have enough food to eat — twice the rate of non-Hispanic white families. And almost a third of Latino adults have gone into debt to pay for groceries — more than any other racial or ethnic group.

SNAP is about more than food— it’s about opportunity, health and dignity. To protect families’ well-being and help them make ends meet, the administration must use its legal authority to keep SNAP running, however long the government shutdown lasts. No child, older adult or working parent should be forced to go hungry when our country has the resources to ensure that every family can live in dignity and raise children who grow up healthy and strong.

Latinos are a driving force in the U.S. economy — fueling progress as workers, entrepreneurs, and consumers. With Latinos projected to make up nearly 30% of the U.S. population by 2060, and already contributing $4.1 trillion to the American economy, our prosperity is directly tied to the nation’s economic future. UnidosUS, in collaboration with Affiliates and with input from Latino communities across the country, is developing an ambitious framework connecting policy, practice, advocacy, and investment for sustainable economic mobility. Our Economic Agenda for Prosperity will be released in January 2026. 

Throughout the summer and fall of this year, UnidosUS has been conducting a nationwide listening tour to better understand the barriers that Latino communities face while accessing economic opportunity. Our team has held listening sessions and roundtables in an effort to bring together Hispanic residents, Affiliates, advocates, and community leaders across 15 states to share their perspectives on current economic challenges, economic solutions working in their communities, and a vision for economic prosperity for their community and country. 

The development of the agenda, which will serve as a living roadmap for economic opportunity, is shaped by the voices, concerns, and successes of Latino communities across the country. It reflects what UnidosUS has learned from listening to families, analyzing data, and testing solutions that work. 

Ultimately, the Economic Agenda for Prosperity will have a three-pronged purpose:  

• A roadmap for policymakers who want to unlock America’s economic potential. 

• A rally cry for communities ready to demand the prosperity they’ve earned. 

• A call to action for every American who believes our country is strongest when everyone is afforded the opportunity to thrive. 

For a preview of the agenda, visit: https://unidosus.org/publications/an-economic-agenda-for-prosperity/.  

A native of Racine, WI, Gary Vargas’s first UnidosUS (then-NCLR) conference was in 1986 in Chicago. “A buddy told me about this large Hispanic organization; I was intrigued. I was able to attend that first conference on scholarship,” he explains. After that, Gary was hooked: “Hearing discussions about our people’s struggles, seeing our people in leadership positions, I never knew that part of the world” He’s attended 37 conferences since, including the most recent in Kansas City. 

For Marlene de la Rosa, a Denver native, this year’s conference was her 23rd. Like Gary, a friend told Marlene about the wonderful experience she’d had at an NCLR conference. With the federal government as her employer at the time, Marlene didn’t have funding to attend so she started volunteering, taking her kids, other students, and nieces and nephews, to do so as well. “Every year I’ve taken somebody to volunteer, because it’s such an empowering, motivating experience. They then go home and get involved with their communities,” she says, adding, “UnidosUS and the conference become part of the family values and vision.” 

Gary agrees, noting that, for 15 years, the Vargas and de la Rosa families have planned their yearly vacation around volunteering at the conference. Working in a Racine high school diversion program, Gary has also taken students to participate in the Líderes Summit. 

What keeps them coming back? Both say it’s a sense of family, a love of serving the community, and the importance of addressing issues affecting Latinos. “It’s that feeling you’re not in this alone; people across the country want the same things for their communities. Everyone is so willing to connect, support, and help,” Marlene explains. 

Meeting up annually, Gary’s and Marlene’s families have grown close over the years. “My daughter went to college in Michigan so one year, when I couldn’t fly her home for Thanksgiving, she spent it with Gary’s family in Wisconsin,” Marlene says, adding that two other volunteer friends lived in the same town, so when she’d visit her daughter, she would see them as well. 

Gary and Marlene are also super volunteers in their local communities. Gary sits on two nonprofit boards and coaches golf. “The problem is we can’t say no — but that’s a good problem,” he says. Marlene co-founded two Hispanic giving circles and is currently vice president of the Denver school board. 

When asked how many more conferences they plan to volunteer for, both agree, “As many as we can!”  

For decades, every year at the UnidosUS Conference, Gary, Marlene, and their families become part of the UnidosUS family. 

To learn more about the impact of your support, visit unidosus.org/individual-giving/ 

It hardly seems possible that I’ve had the honor of serving at the helm of UnidosUS for 20 years; it’s gone by so fast! When I joined this American institution, I could not have imagined the current political landscape of our country. 

The current Administration and Congress have shattered our democratic norms with a tsunami of legislation and executive orders that have undone decades of economic and social progress.   While I recognize that many communities are under attack, it feels like the Hispanic community is the focal point of the Trump Administration. A new Gallup poll shows that 64 percent of Americans acknowledge that Hispanics are experiencing more searches and detentions than other populations.  Immigration detentions and arrests in our communities have skyrocketed. But, this is not just about immigration.  Federal enforcement actions are racial profiling all Latinos, citizen and noncitizen alike. People are living in fear of their own government.  

The Administration claims its aggressive and unlawful enforcement actions target violent criminals. Yet, while the number of detentions has risen by over 45% during the past six months, less than 10% of those detained have been convicted of violent offenses. The people who are disappearing have no criminal records; they are trying to go to work, check in at health care facilities, take their children to school, go to church, and show up for court appointments. The Administration wants to scare Latinos and diminish our presence in this country.  We will not be erased. We will not sit silently and let our democracy slip away. 

At Our Annual Conference in August I was deeply heartened to see many of you, our extraordinary donors, along with our Affiliate partners, Latino advocates and community allies, in my hometown, Kansas City. I was uplifted by our attendees’ strength and courage to come together to find ways to protect, defend, and advance our community.  This year’s conference theme, Beacons of Change, spotlighted issues that our Affiliates identified as most important in this moment: community safety, crisis-ready leadership, civic action and economic mobility.  

Watch highlights from our annual conference including my keynote speech at unidosus.org/conference/ 

As we continue our efforts to uphold and defend the gains we’ve made, at UnidosUS, we are also advancing an economic prosperity agenda that will move our community, and our entire country, forward. (You can read more about this in the In Your Community section of this newsletter.) 

I am especially grateful to you, our steadfast donors.  Your support is crucial, especially in these difficult times.  With you by our side, we’ll continue to fight for the change we need and for the America we want to see. Together, we can be the beacons of change that light the way forward.  

Adelante, siempre, adelante, 

Janet Murguía
President and CEO