Somos' Melissa Morales on Supreme Court Tariff Ruling: "The Court has spoken — these tariffs were illegal, and Latino families paid the price"
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following the Supreme Court's ruling striking down President Trump's tariffs as an unlawful overreach of executive power and as new data shows GDP growth slowed to 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Melissa Morales, Founder and President of Somos Votantes, released the following statement:
"The Court has spoken – these tariffs were illegal, and Latino families paid the price. Trump tried to manufacture an emergency to justify picking the pockets of hardworking families, and the highest court in the land said no. This is a victory for every working family who watched their grocery bills climb, their car payments spike, and their paychecks fall short because of one man's reckless economic agenda.
"But a court ruling doesn't put money back in people's pockets. The damage is done, and no legal decision undoes a year of higher prices and broken promises. Somos Votantes will continue to fight for an economy that works for hardworking Latinos – not one rigged to funnel wealth to billionaires at the expense of working families."
Somos’ year-long polling tells the full story of this damage. Trump's economic approval among Latino voters cratered from -13 to -30 over the course of his first year. Sixty-nine percent of Latino voters said his tariff policies were driving up the prices of everything they buy. More than one in three Latinos who voted for Trump in 2024 now say they are disappointed or regret that decision. That is what these illegal tariffs cost hardworking families – and a Supreme Court ruling, while welcome, cannot give that back.
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About Somos Votantes
Somos Votantes is a Latino-led, Latino-focused organization that runs some of the largest independent Latino civic and voter engagement programs in the country. We envision a nation where hardworking Latinos have the opportunities and tools to fully participate in our democracy. Somos Votantes seeks to empower hardworking Latinos in shaping the future of our democracy, primarily through non-partisan civic engagement programs, by increasing our participation in elections and advocating for progressive policies.
Visit https://www.somosvotantes.com/ for more information on this program and other projects, and follow the organization on Instagram, Facebook, and X.