Towards an Ethical Representation of Undocumented Latinos

According to Dovi, it is the ability of the dispossessed subgroup to hold the representative accountable. Empirical evidence has provided mixed results as legislator ethnicity either has no impact on the policy representation, as signified by roll call votes or bill sponsorship of Latino constituents (Hero and Tolbert 1995; Knoll 2009; Casellas 2011), or has an indirect relationship possibly related to issue salience (e.g., Kerr and Miller 1997; Preuhs 2007; Wallace 2014). While quantitative measures have indicated that the Democratic Party is able to provide Latinos with substantive representation on policy issues regardless of legislator ethnicity, qualitative research suggests that Latino legislators do envision themselves as having a responsibility to represent their Latino constituents, including undocumented immigrants (Casellas 2011, 125), and engaging in distinct legislative behaviors designed to incorporate the interests of undocumented Latinos into the debate. Seif's (2004) examination of an immigrant rights advocacy organization finds Firebaugh working in concert with Latino citizen professionals and undocumented Latino students to advocate for in-state college tuition for undocumented youth.11 The late Marco Firebaugh, a former California state legislator, is an example of a preferable descriptive representative as he maintained extensive ties to the non-electoral advocates of the undocumented Latino community.