Let’s taco ’bout it

Marco Gutierrez, founder of Latinos for Trump, probably had no idea the backlash from his comments made about immigrants would launch a movement, let alone a taco truck movement.

“My culture is a very dominant culture, and it’s causing problems,” Guiterrez said in an interview with MSNBC  Sept. 1. “If you don’t do something about it, you’re going to have taco trucks on every corner.”

In response to Gutierrez’s concern about his version of dystopia with “taco trucks on every corner” due to unbridled immigration, taco trucks circled the wagons and started helping patrons get registered to vote. The movement “Guac the Vote” was seen across the country, including right here in Houston. The service assisted customers with filling out voter registration forms and pointed them to the nearest post office drop box.

“We have to do more to help Hispanics get involved, not just for this election but for the future, too,” said Fernando Montano, manager of one of the trucks, Ultimo Taco Truck, involved in the movement in Houston.

Harris County has the second largest Hispanic population in the U.S., as stated on the Pew Research Center’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, yet only about 13 percent of eligible Hispanic voters actually turned out for the Harris Country mayoral race.

“Hispanics have been disengaged from the electoral process,” said Max Moll, the chief of staff for Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “We have a robust impact on the local economy, but we could also have such an impact civically.”

As of Oct. 24, Texas became a swing state due to the significant increase in voter registration (up to 15 million) and having the second largest Hispanic population in the U.S. In years past, voter turnout in Texas has been low, especially amongst Hispanic voters, but with record-breaking numbers of registered voters this may well be a historic turnout.

“I think it’s great the ‘Guac the Vote’ movement is helping to break down barriers and make it more convenient for people to get registered to vote,” said Bianca Garcia, president of HACER and psychology major.

Early voting has begun in Texas and will continue until Nov. 4. Lines at polling stations for early voting in Houston have taken as long as an hour and a half. In Harris County alone, over 67,000 voters turned out on the first day of early voting compared to 47,000 on the first day of early voting in 2012.