Latino Substantive Representation In The U.S.Congress

In 2003,the Latinos have become the largest minority ethnic group in the United States.With such demographic changes,Latino immigration issue has become a hot political topic ever since Trump took office.Trump's ascent to power has made immigration policies a disaster for Latino immigrants and the increasing anti-Latino rhetoric in American politics have put immigration policies on the top of priorities of Latino community.With more Latino representatives elected to Congress has come increased interest in how Latino immigration interests are represented in Congress Does the improved Latino descriptive representation in congress enhance substantive representation in general and with regard to immigration policies in particular?Are Latinos better represented by Latino representatives than non-Latino representatives?The role that Latino representatives play to substantively represent Latinos is being examined carefully in this paper.In this study,Latino representatives in the 115th and 116th congresses are studied to access and evaluate the relationship between Latino descriptive representation and substantive representation.Data of immigration bill sponsorship and floor speeches are collected to examine substantive representation of Latino representatives.Bill sponsorship,a widely analyzed behavior in representation research,illustrates Latino representatives' role in prioritizing policies that match Latino interests and reflect Latino preferences.Floor speeches can provide specific windows on representative patterns and offer important insight into the mindset and behaviors of Latino representation.Using a multi-method approach that included qualitative and quantitative analyses of immigration bill sponsorship and floor speeches,this study finds that Latino representatives are more active in representing Latino immigration issues through bill sponsorship and they speak for Latino perspectives during floor speeches more consistently.This study finds that Latino representatives have made more focused efforts to liberate immigration policy.Furthermore Latino representatives are showing a tendency to form a consistent front in representing immigration interest regardless of their homeland,ethnic origin,and ideology.Such united contributions are essential to Latino community during congressional floor speeches.This study concluded that Latino descriptive representation is essential to substantive Latino representation and Latino representatives substantially enhances Latino representation in the process of policy agenda setting and deliberation.