On a recent morning, inside the Eastern Indoor Swapmeet Las Vegas, a group funded by the billionaire Koch brothers helped 250 Latinos — some of them undocumented immigrants — pass the Nevada driver’s test.
The LIBRE Initiative, an expanding grass-roots organization now operating in nine states, organized the four-hour test prep session to teach the rules of the road in Spanish — no tome y maneje (no drinking and driving), el límite de velocidad es sesenta y cinco millas por hora (the speed limit is 65 miles per hour).
Paula Hernandez, 46, an undocumented restaurant supervisor from Mexico, was one of those sitting on folded chairs, listening. She has worked in the United States for 25 years and gave birth to three children here. She has never heard of the Koch brothers or LIBRE but said the free classes were a “great help,” particularly because nobody else is lending her a hand. “President Obama promised to do more for us, and it just didn’t happen,” she said.
“Latino celebrities, unions and left-leaning community groups” for decades have done a far better job in courting the Hispanic vote and “engaging directly with the Latino community,” said Daniel Garza, executive director of LIBRE. Now, he said, his group aims to end what he calls the “deafening silence” from “libertarians and conservatives.”
By providing tax prep and driving classes, they are building goodwill in the Latino community and what they call a “platform for civic engagement.” LIBRE officials take pains to say they are advocating policies, not specific candidates.
Garza said his group is focused on explaining conservative views. For instance, they talk about how a higher minimum wage might not be in the best interest of Latinos, because they believe it will hurt businesses and that there are less expensive ways for young Latinos to get health insurance than Obama’s health plan. Garza also said LIBRE advocates are getting millions of undocumented workers “out of the shadows” and into the legal system.
The LIBRE effort, which backers plan to expand into more presidential battleground states over the next several months, has alarmed many Democrats.
Barreto says those behind LIBRE are “playing the long game” and don’t really have to win Republican votes, but rather raise doubts about Democrats to suppress support for them.
Salvador Garnica, 44, an electrician who is a permanent resident originally from Mexico, has flunked the test four times. He said that after listening to an instructor explain in Spanish for four hours everything from the right of way at roundabouts to lane changes, he finally felt ready to pass. He was grateful for the help and the festive atmosphere at the flea market, where a dozen people who took the class won gift certificates in a raffle.
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