Paola Ramos fosters conversation about “The Latino Far Right and What it Means for America,” raising awareness on how there has been an influx of right-wing voters at the polls and how this political shift started.
At Cal State Bakersfield’s 30th annual Charles W. Kegley Memorial Lecture on April 8, moderated by Dr. Nate Olson, interim director of The Kegley Institute of Ethics, Ramos shared insight into her latest book Defectors, which is based on real conversations about the “abandonment of the pursuit of true loyalty,” said Ramos.
Paola explained that there was a certain public expectation for Latinos and immigrants to be loyal to the idea of “The American Dream.”
“An American dream where…everyone was striving towards greater rights and greater opportunity,” said Ramos. “A world that every single one of us had a little bit more dignity in that world.”
The idea that was also being shared was that the Latino and immigrant community was at the center of helping the United States become a better version of itself by increasing the multicultural and racial population.
Therefore, in the midst of a presidential candidate who would criminalize immigrants, threaten mass deportation, or joke about defying the laws, there was a story being told that Latinos and immigrants would stop a candidate like that from taking office.
“Latinos and immigrants would sort of rise up in these unprecedented numbers to stop that,” said Ramos.
Ramos further explained that despite the assumptions, that is not what happened during the 2025 elections– and the candidate who was promising mass deportation was able to gather a majority of the Latino male vote and went on to secure 45 percent of the Latino vote.
While most audience members were shocked by the information, Ramos explained that, over the past eight years, she had noticed signs of the anti-immigrant narrative—not just spreading across the country but also taking place within the Latino and immigrant communities themselves.
Ramos explained that the idea of anti-Blackness, too, became louder and that there was an increase in the narrative of being tough on crime. As well as conversations about Christian nationalism and the rise of transphobia spreading across the country.
“Paola Ramos’s lecture was eye-opening, and it made me realize how the Latino far right is influencing the political landscape in ways I hadn’t considered before. It’s important for us as young people to stay informed and engaged,” said Giselle, a CSUB student.
When you really look at it, there was a growing number of people that were defecting from the shared goal that stood against white supremacy, racism, and nationalism, resulting in division rather than unity, shared Ramos.
Ramos brought multi-layered perspectives on how race, identity and politics are intertwined and the influence that has on the Latino vote and how that intersection continues to shape America at the polls.
“A key takeaway, I think, was her honesty that a lot of the questions that were asked wasn’t a quick answers,” said Alejandra Guerro. “There are many aspects to why there is a big move for Latinos going into the right wing.”
