UC Santa Barbara

The 2016 U.S. presidential election brought many reactions on a global scale. World leaders, national leaders, and everyday citizens experienced intense emotions on varying levels. Latinx communities in the U.S., specifically, were impacted significantly, with rhetoric about immigration and issues regarding border security (i.e., build a wall). While much about these sentiments have been reported at the journalistic level, little has been published at the research level to date: specifically, how Latinx community members reacted on an individual level, how they confronted concerns related to fear and adversities (i.e., their resilience), and what the impact may be for their future. The current study employs a community-based, qualitative approach that involved conducting semi-structured focus groups with self-identified Latinx community members in a U.S., West Coast town. Participants were asked about their emotions and reactions, as well as plans regarding the results of the election. Emergent themes included three broad categories: (1) perspectives on the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election; (2) observed impacts of the U.S. presidential election, and (3) ways of dealing with the election results. Sub and tertiary thematic categories were also identified.