Hispanic evangelicals hold potent votes, experts say

By Mark I. Pinsky and Jeannette Rivera-lyles - Orlando Sentinel
Monday, May 05, 2008 - Web Link
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May 5, 2008

For the Rev. Nino Gonzalez, last year's contentious debate over immigration reform was a rude awakening -- one that has propelled him into the political arena.

Mainstream white and black evangelical leaders initially denounced the bipartisan effort to create a path to legalization for undocumented workers. Some even argued for the roundup and deportation of millions of Hispanic immigrants in the U.S., the very people to whom Gonzalez ministers every day at Iglesia el Calvario just south of Orlando.

"I was stunned, shocked and surprised," Gonzalez said of the initial reaction of those he thought of as his spiritual allies. "They turned their backs on the Hispanics."

Gonzalez and other Hispanic pastors across the country seized on the debate to come together as a political force gaining momentum. Hispanic Pentecostals, some experts say, can become an important swing vote in the 2008 elections in key demographic battlegrounds such as Florida, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and North Carolina.

Gonzalez said he was prompted to act by the hostile tone some religious and political leaders took as they discussed immigration. He believes in securing the borders but is critical of the lack of a national policy that takes into consideration the millions of immigrants that are already here.

"What do you do with them? Arrest them?" he asked. "When people come forward in his church to accept Jesus as their savior, I don't say: 'Do you have papers?' " he said. "I've been called to help people regardless of whether they are here legally."