If the Democrats win in Arizona, they will owe it in part to the mobilization of a group of Hispanic women activists, driven into politics by the anti-immigration laws of the 2010s. They have risen through the ranks, succeeded in getting elected to local assemblies, and advanced their demands for equality. Their struggle has resurged today, but the pioneers have organized themselves. "Fear tactics don't work anymore," said Alejandra Gomez, founder of LUCHA (Living United for Change in Arizona), an organization that boasts of having knocked on the doors of 500,000 voters since September.

Latinos make up 33% of Arizona's population and 25% of the electorate. With less than a week to go before a decisive election nationally, but also for Arizona, where Republicans now hold just two majority seats in the Assembly and Senate (down from 12 in each chamber in 2010), Latinas are at the forefront of the mobilization. "Studies show that they are the ones who encourage men to vote, and all family members in the household" said Gomez. "Women are the true believers in the American dream." Immigration, abortion, education: Each woman has their own background and motivation. "We must be grateful to all our moms," the activist insisted. "They showed us how to fight."

• Alejandra Gomez: 'We're going to fight'

As a child living in California, Gomez had no idea that her father was living in the US without papers. In 1994, when Golden State voters passed "Proposition 187," a measure that deprived undocumented immigrants of social services, at the forefront of the rise of anti-immigration sentiment in the country, the family preferred to move to Arizona.

Years later, in 2010, Alejandra was caught out in Phoenix by a similar law (SB 1070), known as "show me your papers," which allowed local police to check the status of anyone they wished. A political scientist student, "Alex" decided there was no point in running away and founded LUCHA. As in California, Republicans suffered from the awakening of the sleeping giant. Arizona's Latino electorate gave Biden a majority in 2020 and elected a Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, in 2022.

Today, the same project to criminalize undocumented immigrants is back. In early 2024, the state's Republican elected officials passed a text – known as the "Border Invasion Act" – but it was blocked in March by Hobbs. To bypass the governor's veto, they decided to submit it directly to the voters on November 5. It's "Proposition 314," an initiative that awakens memories of humiliation and racial profiling in the community. "The Republicans were getting really concerned about losing power. They used the playbook that has always existed and demonized our communities," denounced Gomez. "They needed an issue to be able to drive out their base. And so that was immigration."

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