Political Bridging and Struggles in Puerto Rican/Latino Solidarity Politics in Orlando

This paper examines how a politics of solidarity is forged between Puerto Ricans and Latinos in Orlando metro. To do so, it focuses on how Puerto Ricans in Orlando think about immigration rights and how Puerto Ricans negotiate the issue of immigration with issues affecting Puerto Ricans. To conduct the analysis, I draw on in-depth interviews and participant observations I conducted in Orlando metro during the 2016 election cycle. I find a politics of solidarity between Puerto Ricans and Latinos in Orlando metro is cultivated and challenged at various levels: by Latino political elites, organizations and funders, and individual views on immigration. I contend these findings capture the complexity of forging and enacting a politics of solidarity on-the-ground—that is, they elucidate tensions, negotiations, and cooperation in the bridging of Puerto Rican and Latino politics in a critical region of the state and one that is consequential for national politics.