Being Latinx is complicated — being Latinx during a global pandemic during an election year, even more so. A Pew poll conducted this August showed that Latinx folks have taken pay cuts or lost their jobs at a higher rate than any other group since February 2020. Another national survey found that nearly two-thirds of Latinx individuals were worried that they would lose their savings or retirement funds, or wouldn’t be able to pay for basic expenses, like food, utilities, rent, or mortgages. Latinx small-business owners applied for federal relief funds, but only a handful received them. The pandemic is on everyone’s mind and economic and social wellbeing is taking the front seat as we near election day.    Critically, in this Presidential election, Latinxs are on track to be the largest racial or ethnic group to be eligible to vote in a presidential election (for the first time!), according to the Pew Research Center’s 2019 electorate data analysis. As of now, approximately 32 million Latinx people—or 13.3% of the electorate—will be eligible to vote, just slightly more than the 30 million black voters .
It comes as no surprise that 75% of young Latinx voters surveyed said the 2020 presidential election is more important than the 2016 election. At least 52 percent said they're more likely to vote this year. According to a survey carried out last December by the Pew Research Center, issues that most concern the Latinx community in the 2020 election include: an increase in the minimum wage, greater health care coverage, and stricter gun control legislation.
Being Latinx is complicated, but the issues don’t have to be. Below are facts on the presidential candidates’ stances on several critical election issues that affect Latinx (and other) voters in a digestible Q&A format.  

Q: Will my tax situation change?
TL;DR: Under Biden’s proposal, unless you’re making over $400,000, your taxes will go down. Under the Trump administration, we’re not quite sure since provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will begin expiring in 2021 and a go-forward plan has not been published. 
Biden:  VP Biden proposes enacting a number of policies that would raise taxes on individuals with income above $400,000, including raising individual income, capital gains, and payroll taxes. The Biden tax plan by 2030 would lead to about 6.5 percent less after-tax income for the top 1 percent of taxpayers. For families, the Biden plan expands the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) from a maximum of $3,000 in qualified expenses to $8,000 ($16,000 for multiple dependents) and increases the maximum reimbursement rate from 35 percent to 50 percent. On balance, macroeconomists generally agree that the incidence of corporate taxes falls on households. So, with Biden's proposed increase in corporate income tax, lower income households would feel the effect on their own income through lower wages. For detailed analysis of the Biden plan vis a vis other macroeconomic analysis and the effects on wage and employment please check out the Penn Wharton Budget model
Trump: President Trump’s campaign tax proposals remain vague and focus on corporate and macro growth, rather than individual tax proposals. Trump has proposed two policy proposals for companies that bring back jobs from China: 1) an unspecified tax credit for companies who do so, 2) allowing up to 100 percent capital expenditure (asset purchase) deductions for certain industries (pharmaceuticals and robotics) for capital expenditures related to bringing manufacturing back to the United States. The proposal does not specify what types of assets would qualify for the 100 percent deduction, whether it would be permanent, or how it would be determined that a company is “bringing back manufacturing.” For you, the reader, President Trump has called for “middle-class tax cuts” in the form of rate reductions, though further details of this plan have not been provided. The plan does not mention prior effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, provisions of which begin expiring in 2021.

Q. Where do the presidential candidates stand on minimum livable wages and professional support? 
TL;DR: Vice President Biden has a clear stance in support of raising the minimum wage to $15 and protecting low earners. President Trump has largely avoided taking a meaningful and consistent stance. 
Biden: VP Biden proposes increasing the federal minimum wage to $15. The Democratic nominee wants to end the tipped minimum wage; his campaign platform also includes promises to enforce stronger labor protections, including those relating to overtime pay and gig economy workers and undocumented immigrants, as well as support for workers’ rights to organize in labor unions and bargain collectively. The administration will invest in partnerships between community colleges and their faculty, businesses, unions, state, local, and tribal governments, universities, and high schools and their instructors to identify in-demand knowledge and skills in a community and develop or modernize training programs.
Trump: The President has in the past expressed occasional support for raising the federal minimum wage—but he and the Senate have not taken any meaningful action during his term. Worker representatives and academics who study labor movements have generally negative reviews of his presidency’s impact on low-wage workers. 

Q: What is each candidate’s stance on immigration and what particular areas have they highlighted in this election?
TL;DR: VP Biden will eliminate restrictions to immigration put in place during the Trump administration and stop construction of Trump's border wall. The Biden campaign promotes a "road map to citizenship" for people living in the United States illegally who meet certain requirements (e.g., have lived in the US for an extended period of time with no record of misconduct) and will expand resources to immigrants already residing in the United States. The Trump campaign continues to take punitive, and demonstrably nationalist and racist, actions: completing the so-called border wall started in the first term, restricting immigration from so-called “shithole countries” (Central American / Caribbean and African countries primarily) and opposing major cities that limit their cooperation with the government's effort to enforce immigration law (“sanctuary cities”).
Biden: VP Biden has an extended platform covering major changes and improvements to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (“DACA”, a program for nationalization of undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children), public benefits, border control and asylum, and public-private partnerships designed to treat complex immigration issues as humanitarian issues.  Biden will protect TPS and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) holders, approximately 2.2 million individuals, from being returned to countries that are unsafe. TPS/DED holders who have been in the country for an extended period of time and built lives in the U.S. will also be offered a path to citizenship through legislative immigration reform. Crucially, Biden has pledged to make DACA permanent on his first day as president. Furthermore, his immigration plan pushes for further oversight, regulation and instruction of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as well as Customs and Border Protection (CBP), noting that the agencies must be held accountable for inhumane treatment. 
Trump: The President’s immigration reform proposal calls for the transition to a “merit-based” immigration plan. The Department of Homeland Security took action to wind down the DACA program following the assessment of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that DACA lacks legal authorization. This action gives Congress the opportunity to consider legislative solutions, though the cost of inaction could lead to increased deportation. Other administration policies are more obviously punitive and frame changes to America’s immigration system with a nationalist and isolationist perspective. Trump says “illegal immigrants”, estimated at 11 million, “drain” government resources, are prone to commit violent crimes (though this has been disproven) and take jobs from citizens. The Washington Post notes several additional controversial and damaging actions taken by the Trump administration regarding immigration policy:  Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on illegal border crossings led to thousands of migrant children being separated from their families, before an outcry forced an end to that practice.  Trump extended waiting times for residency and citizenship applications and expanded the “public charge rule” that denies immigrants legal-resident status if they rely on public assistance such as food stamps or Medicaid.  He temporarily suspended immigration into the U.S. in response to the pandemic.  He ordered the end of a program that allows Dreamers (DACA members) to stay and work in the U.S. (Courts have stalled enforcement of that order)  He cracked down on America’s asylum policy toward migrants from Central America who claim to face persecution at home.

Q. There’s a lot of noise and heated opinions about reproductive health, women’s choices, and the ongoing Pro-life - Pro-choice debate. Where does each candidate stand? 
TL;DR: Biden is pro-choice and views reproductive rights as part of a larger notion of reproductive health. President Trump is pro-life. 
Biden: Vice President Biden asserts that healthcare is a fundamental human right that should not be dependent on one’s zip code or income. He supports repealing the Hyde Amendment, a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion. Biden plans to restore a Obama-Biden policy that provided an exemption for houses of worship and an accommodation for nonprofit organizations with religious missions to leave administration of contraception to a third-party healthcare provider. The accommodation would allow women at these organizations to access contraceptive coverage, not through their employer-provided plan, but instead through their insurance company or a third-party administrator.
Trump: President Trump worked with Congress to restore provisions that would allow states to withhold funding from abortion service providers. The Trump Administration published guidance asserting that taxpayer dollars should not support abortion coverage in exchange plans and expanded an international policy that prevents foreign aid from being applied to reproductive health and services. 

Q. How are the candidates investing in and supporting Latinx communities, underrepresented communities and communities of color? 
TL;DR: VP Biden sees opportunity to implement or re-implement policies that support, elevate, safeguard, and rehabilitate (when necessary) persons of color though education, civil, and criminal reform. President Trump has taken a few tactical measures during the pandemic to assist low-income families but has largely steered clear of—or worse, admonished and denied—efforts to correct historical effects of structural and systemic racism. 
Biden: VP Biden promotes programs that will ensure funding is equitably allocated so that women and communities of color receive their fair share of investment dollars. Biden will ensure that federal research and procurement dollars are awarded fairly and will apply the principles of Congressman Jim Clyburn’s 10-20-30 plan to ensure that help goes to high-poverty areas that have long suffered disinvestment. And, he’ll invest in the diverse talent at Historically Black College and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Minority Serving Institutions to solve the country’s most pressing problems, including by creating new centers of excellence and dedicate additional priority funding at federal agencies for grants and contracts for HBCUs and MSIs. The VP will require any federal research grants to universities with an endowment of over $1 billion to form a meaningful partnership and enter into a 10% minimum subcontract with an HBCU, TCU, or MSI. Furthermore, recall that the Obama administration wanted to make two years of community college or technical school free, arguing the U.S. should extend public schooling through grade 14. Vice President Biden has endorsed this stance, noting that the cost of making community college free could be covered by closing a single tax loophole. On a different note, Biden stands against mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenses and cash bail as those practices disproportionately target low-income and minority individuals. 
Trump: During the Trump administration, the USDA announced a 40% increase in SNAP benefits to ensure that low-income families have enough food during the COVID-19 pandemic. More broadly, the Trump Administration rescinded an order from the Obama Administration that had directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to reduce the use of private prisons. He has no firm stance ending cash bail, though has on numerous occasions suggested that the policy continue. President Trump has largely steered clear of—or worse, admonished and denied—efforts to correct historical effects of structural and systemic racism. Comments throughout President Trump’s presidency, including following the Charlottesville riot in 2017 and in the most recent presidential debate, suggest that he does not denounce white supremacists (as they comprise an interest-group who support him) and white supremacy ideology that hold minorities to a position of inferiority to people who are white.

Q. The public eye is on police accountability in light of ongoing patterns of police violence and misconduct. What’s the difference between defunding the police versus being anti-police? 
TL;DR: Vice President Biden supports seeking accountability from the police and increasing diversity in the police force through amended hiring practices. President Trump believes the police are doing a “fine job” keeping the American people safe, and has raised no issues with documented police brutality.
Biden: The Biden administration will use the power of the U.S. Justice Department to address systemic misconduct in police departments and prosecutors’ offices. Under the Biden Administration, the Justice Department will again use its authority to root out unconstitutional or unlawful policing. The Biden administration will implement mechanisms to ensure hiring of police officers mirror the racial diversity of the community they serve. Additionally, as president, Biden will establish a panel to scrutinize what equipment is used by law enforcement in our communities.
Trump:  Trump has stated that he believes the police are doing a “fine job” keeping the American people safe. He has conspicuously avoided forming stances on documented police brutality in the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Laquan McDonald, George Floyd, and hundreds of others during his administration. He is against reducing funding for the police. He has expressed support for “heavy-handed” use of police power to respond to protests.

Q. Where do the candidates stand on gun control? 
TL;DR: VP Biden supports a combination of a voluntary assault weapon buyback program, universal background checks, and a weapon registry to remove military-grade weapons from civilian circulation while acknowledging the validity of the 2nd amendment. Trump has suggested that ownership of any currently legal firearm is a right granted by the 2nd amendment. 
Biden: Recall that Vice President Biden helped author the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in the 1994 crime bill when he served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Biden calls for "bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines," and supports a national buyback program for assault weapons, though he clarified that he would not confiscate previously owned firearms. Furthermore,  Biden headed the gun task force that led the Obama administration to push for legislation requiring universal background checks in 2013 to prevent online and trade-show purchases. Finally, under Biden’s plan, owners of assault weapons or high-capacity magazines would either register them or sell them to the government as part of a buyback program.
Trump: President Trump has gone on record claiming that gun control does not reduce crime. His campaign asserts that Americans are entitled to “protect their families, their property and themselves”, implying that ownership of any currently legal firearm is a right granted by the 2nd amendment. 

Q. What have the candidates’ responses to the American people been during the pandemic? 
TL;DR: VP Biden has publicly treated the pandemic with the gravity that it deserves and has crafted a platform to execute that which is necessary to try to rein in the virus and bring some normalcy to the American people. President Trump, across his management of COVID-related policy, including economics, goodwill, and education, arguably blew it. 
Biden: Biden has remained firmly pro-science, pro-medicine, pro-data as the pandemic has unfolded and has been a public advocate of mask-wearing social distancing, and other responsible safety precautions. He does not downplay COVID’s seriousness. Looking forward, his administration would focus on a comprehensive public health response that ensures the wide availability of free testing and eliminates all cost barriers to preventive care and treatment for COVID-19, the development of a vaccine, and the full deployment and operation of necessary supplies, personnel, and facilities. Significantly, he would continue to support frontline workers by enacting emergency paid leave for all those affected by the outbreak and give all necessary help to workers, families, and small businesses that are hit hard by this crisis. 
Trump: Trump’s administration did not address the early risk indicators in the winter and was negligent in ignoring advice from medical and scientific experts urging a proactive national response. 220,000 Americans have died, at least 36,000 of whom could have survived in the period March to May had lockdown measures been instituted before March 1. The President has been ostensibly dismissive of science, medicine, and epidemiology, and has taken numerous public risks individually or in groups that have not adhered to safe social distancing practices. More recently, he has downplayed his own bout with the virus in continued attempts to politicize the issue.

Appendix
Resources https://www.politico.com/2020-election/candidates-views-on-the-issues/ https://2020election.procon.org/view.source-summary-chart.php  https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-biden-compare-policy-election-2020-11600337759  https://www.npr.org/series/758097234/election-2020-issue-tracker 

Sources https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/its-hispanic-heritage-month-and-the-latinx-vote-is-still-being-ignored  https://www.ballotready.org/pa/pennsylvania-president-of-the-united-states https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/11/hispanic-voters-say-economy-health-care-and-covid-19-are-top-issues-in-2020-presidential-election/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/16/latino-voters-have-growing-confidence-in-biden-on-key-issues-while-confidence-in-trump-remains-low/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/02/20/latino-voters-favor-raising-minimum-wage-government-involvement-in-health-care-stricter-gun-laws/ https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/latinx-latino-voters-election-2020/ https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/