Biden aims to cut through voter disenchantment as he courts Latino voters at Las Vegas conference

LAS VEGAS (AP) — President Joe Biden is trying to shore up support among disenchanted voters key to his reelection chances as he meets Wednesday with members of a Latino civil rights organization in the battleground state of Nevada.

Biden is set to deliver an address to the UnidosUS annual conference in Las Vegas, where he’ll announce that beginning Aug. 19 certain U.S. citizens’ spouses without legal status can begin applying for permanent residency and eventually citizenship without having to first depart the country, according to the White House. The new program, first announced by Biden last month, could affect upwards of half a million immigrants.

Biden is also expected to use the speech to spotlight that the Latino unemployment rate is near a record low, more people in the community have been able to obtain health insurance and the federal government has doubled the number of Small Business Administration loans to Latino business owners since 2020.

The visit with Latino activists comes as Republicans are hosting their national convention in Milwaukee and as Biden struggles to steady a reelection campaign that’s been listing since his dismal June 27 debate performance against Republican nominee Donald Trump. The campaign has been further complicated by a failed assassination attempt on Trump by a 20-year-old shooter on Saturday in Pennsylvania.

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