Donald Trump has gone from declaring ‘I love Hispanics’ to rounding them up in the streets ten years later.
The post went viral in minutes.
On May 5, 2016, then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump shared a photo of himself smiling in his office, giving a thumbs up while eating a taco bowl.
‘Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in the Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!’
The fallout was swift. Dozens of accounts replied, saying, ‘Hispanics don’t like you’, ‘If you like Latinos, why don’t you apologise about your negative comments towards us?’
Ten years later, Trump’s administration has been spearheading massive deportation drives, claiming to have deported ‘millions’ of ‘illegals’.
Deportations after Trump left office in 2021 continued under Joe Biden, surpassing the record Trump set between 2017 and 2021.
But when he ran for President in 2024, Trump re-entered the Oval Office with a 49% support level from American Latinos. That quickly fell.
Mass protests were sparked in Los Angeles after ICE units descended on Hispanic neighbourhoods and began arresting people. Several other cities saw similar scenes.
The detention of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos earlier this year sent shockwaves through the US.
Ramos had just arrived home from preschool when he and his father were apprehended in their driveway. His story isn’t unique – dozens of other children are in detention centres with their parents.
An analysis from UCLA found that in Trump’s first six months back in office, immigration enforcement in Latino communities skyrocketed to unprecedented levels.
Latinos accounted for nine out of ten ICE arrests at the beginning of 2026, despite evidence linking the arrests to higher crime levels.
A CBS poll found that 70% of Latinos disapprove of Trump’s immigration policies – a sharp contrast to the 58% national average as of January 2026.
Janet Murguía, president and CEO of the nonpartisan advocacy organisation UnidosUS, told ABC that Latinos who voted for Trump and had family members lose their temporary protected immigration status felt ‘betrayed’.
‘This is looking like the countries where they came from, when they fled dictators and fascist regimes, and so I think they’re starting to see signs here that this is not what they bought into,’ she said.
Despite decreased support from Hispanic communities that Trump once claimed to ‘love’, the White House has said these reports aren’t true.
‘President Trump campaigned on enforcing federal immigration law, and he received a sweeping mandate from the American people to carry out that agenda,’ White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson said earlier this year.
‘The President’s winning coalition included historic support from Hispanic voters with widespread backing among these voters for deportations.’
Metro has contacted the White House for a statement.
Ten years ago, Trump claimed to ‘love Hispanics!’
Now, the communities which helped him retake office are suffering.
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