Florida Evangelical Leaders Launch Young Voters' Outreach
(Posted January 12, 2012 06:50 am)
By Les Coleman
ORLANDO, FL - More than 2,000 Latinos gathered in Orlando this week to kick off a six-state campaign to mobilize young, evangelical Hispanic voters. They say the goal of Nuestro Futuro (New Future) is to let both political parties know they want a strong, secure future for young people.
The Latino vote will play a key role this year, both in Florida and across the nation, and as the Latino youth population continues to grow, this constituency is poised to become a powerful political force.
At the top of its agenda is sweeping immigration reform, including implementation of the Dream Act, a pathway for students of foreign-born parents to receive in-state college tuition. Such a student is Lucas DeSilva of Orlando.
"The Dream Act represents, to me, an opportunity - an
opportunity to reach out for my future, to reach the
stars, to exercise my dream."
Evangelical Latino organizations have said they favor
immigration reform and have put both major political
parties on notice that Hispanics are a rising political
voice with which to contend.
Melanie Santiago is director of Young Adult Ministries
for the
Spanish District Assembly of God Churches in the
southeastern states.
"We have a generation that's rising up - that is
determined to just win this world, do whatever it takes
outside the four walls of the church - and I'm ready for
that. I'm going to be a partner with them, and do
whatever it takes."
To harness that enthusiasm, they have launched Nuestro
Futuro, a campaign to engage and work with youth leaders
to turn out record numbers of Latino evangelical youth
to the polls this year. In coming months, Santiago says
the campaign will forge partnerships with hundreds of
churches in five other key states to register new voters
and to educate the broader community on the top issues
facing young Hispanic evangelicals: poverty, immigration
and education. The additional states are Arizona, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.