A year after Donald Trump reclaimed the White House, many of the Latino voters in Florida who helped make that happen are starting to question whether they made the right choice, as per El País. What they once saw as a promise of stability and prosperity now feels like a series of blows with rising prices, cuts to food aid, and an immigration agenda that is tearing through their communities.
Across Florida, frustration is building. The ongoing government shutdown, inflation, and reduced support programs have left thousands scrambling. Two judges recently ruled that the government must keep food aid flowing, but officials say the 42 million Americans relying on SNAP could still face delays.
Nowhere is the tension clearer than in Miami-Dade County, where about a quarter of households depend on SNAP. Alexis Maria, a 35-year-old single mom from West Palm Beach, is one of them. She voted for Trump, believing he could restore the good times. “The last time Trump was president, I made more money than ever in my career. Prices were low. Gasoline was cheap. I remember going on vacation. Interest rates were lower. Now everything is out of control. I can’t even afford the air we breathe. Now I see that I made the wrong decision,” she says.
Alexis, who works as a doctor’s assistant, worries what will happen if her food stamps are interrupted. “The government is the reason we’ve been able to eat most of the month, and the other half, I’m counting each cent to survive, what with food prices and rent,” she says. She’s been spending hours in food donation lines just to feed her kids. “This sums up why I’m angry with the president. His decisions are now [adversely] affecting the lower and middle class. They only benefit the rich,” she says.
Her story mirrors what’s happening across the state. Federal cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, and the month-long shutdown have deepened the strain. Congress is still fighting over a new budget, with Democrats pushing to extend Obamacare and reverse Medicaid cuts while Republicans, led by Trump, accuse them of wanting to give free health care to undocumented immigrants.
But beyond the political spin, real people are feeling the squeeze. Vanessa Brito, a Miami election analyst and community activist, says voters are tired of finger-pointing. “Both political parties are more concerned with how to win the next election than in helping those in need,” she says.
Many of Brito’s followers echo that sentiment. Some, like Michael Lyras from Volusia County, openly regret their vote. “I regret my last vote enormously,” he says. “He [Trump] is turning this into a police state and he’s acting like an authoritarian. I didn’t vote for any of this.”
Others, like 51-year-old Cuban voter Erick Pita, feel conflicted. He supported Trump hoping for stronger leadership but now calls the immigration policies “cruel” and “very bad.” He admits, “They are going to pay dearly.”
Still, not everyone has turned away. Kimberly Delgado, 28, says she continues to back Trump because she believes in his immigration stance, even though her family depends on SNAP to get by. “The last four years with the Democrats in office were a disaster,” she says.
Between rising costs, food aid cuts, and political deadlock, Florida’s Latino voters are caught in a storm of regret, frustration, and uncertainty — a harsh reminder that campaign promises don’t always translate into comfort at home.