The following collection of immigration reporting resources, story ideas and examples is the fourth in a series of tip sheets for new and experienced journalists covering immigration at the local and community levels. This tip sheet series is made possible through funding from the Catena Foundation. You can read the entire collection here.

As an immigrant raised in a fundamentalist religious home, I was not that surprised to learn in a recent poll that Latino voters, who have historically voted Democrat, are shifting their support toward Republican candidate Donald Trump in the presidential election.

After moving from Cuba to Florida in the late 1950s, my family attended evangelical church services several times weekly. Church members, including many immigrants like us, embraced us and became our extended family. As far as I know, my parents consistently voted Republican.

A July Pew Research survey of Latinos — before President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race — showed an even split among Latino support for Biden vs. Republican nominee Donald Trump: 36% said they would vote for or leaned toward voting for Biden, while another 36% were for Trump. Third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. garnered 24% of support, according to the poll.

Political analysts cite a variety of reasons why some Latino voters are switching their political affiliation to support a Republican candidate for president –– a trend that began around the time of the 2016 presidential race between Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

One reason they cite is that Latinos, especially evangelical Christians like my parents, tend to believe a Republican president is more likely than a Democrat to halt undocumented immigration at the southern border, improve the economy, uphold their views on restricting abortion, reduce or eliminate protections for LGBTQ+ people, and stop the teaching of critical race theory in public schools.

The Republican Party smartly began heavily courting Latino evangelicals and Protestants in the mid-2010s when Trump first ran for president, visiting fundamentalist churches in South Florida and elsewhere and speaking to groups like the National Convention of Religious Broadcasters in Nashville this February, where Trump said: “We have to get our religion back, we have to get Christianity back in this country.”

There are 36.2 million eligible Latino voters, which amounts to 14.7% of the U.S. electorate, although not all vote. And according to a recent Pew Research Center poll, around 10 million Hispanics identify as evangelical or Protestant. There are thousands of Latino evangelical and Protestant churches across the U.S. The impact of this significant voting bloc on the outcome of the November election is worth following and reporting.

Story idea: Attend worship services at local Latino evangelical and conservative Protestant churches. Is the preacher addressing the election in his sermons? Are they advocating for a specific candidate? If so, why? Interview pastors and church members on whether party politics should be combined with religion. Here’s a story from a reporter who spoke to Latino pastors in Miami, visited some of their churches, and interviewed parishioners about their views on the presidential candidates.

Immigration reform efforts back again

One story for journalists to track now and after the election: A renewed legislative effort, supported by the White House, seeks to revive immigration reform. Earlier this year, a bipartisan bill, supported by Biden to improve the current immigration system, failed to pass in the Senate. The legislation was supported by businesses, labor unions and even the Border Patrol union.

Immigration is a top-tier concern for all voters, including Latinos, according to polls.

Two House members, Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York, and Morgan Luttrell, a Republican from Texas, have announced a bipartisan consortium to tackle immigration enforcement and an overall improvement of the system.

At a July campaign rally in Atlanta, presumptive Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris pledged to “bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump killed, and I will sign it into law.”

Story idea: Interview your state senator and members of Congress about their stance on the renewed immigration effort.

A new legal deal for undocumented spouses and children of US citizens and some DACA recipients

The president’s recent executive order to offer a streamlined legal pathway for undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens was largely unreported by news media in the aftermath of his earlier announcement to drastically curtail the processing of asylum seekers at the southern border.

The executive order will affect at least 500,000 undocumented spouses and 50,000 children who have been in the country for at least 10 years by allowing them to obtain legal residency and work permits and provide a path to citizenship. The measure also gives some protection from deportation for DACA recipients, known as Dreamers, who came to the U.S. as children and have a college degree and a job offer.

Story idea: Interview undocumented spouses in your community who will benefit from the program and some who don’t qualify because they don’t meet the 10-year requirement. How will the ability to regularize their status affect them and their families? What is the impact on an undocumented spouse who doesn’t qualify? Interview some DACA recipients about the impact on them and their families. This helpful toolkit from Define American provides guidance for journalists on how to interview and quote immigrants who lack legal status.

Last but not least, a human take on immigration

Author Sarah Towle’s new book, “Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands,” provides a comprehensive view of the human impact of immigration on migrants and the charities working to help them along the Texas southern border.

According to an Amazon review of the book, “Deftly weaving together oral storytelling, history, and memoir, Sarah illustrates how the U.S. has led the retreat from post-WWII commitments to protecting human rights.” Here is a Border Report story on Towle’s journey and findings during her travels along the U.S.-Mexico border. Happy reading.