Anti-immigrant rhetoric from the campaign trail is encouraging Latino immigrants to become U.S. citizens with one goal in mind: to vote against GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump.

That energy is seen in citizenship workshops across Southern California.

Community organizers in the Inland area began holding naturalization drives during the workweek in order to assist hundreds with their citizenship applications. In Orange County, crowds have stood in line to receive citizenship assistance.

TRUMP IN CALIFORNIA: The lines are drawn

Federal numbers show an increase in naturalization applications in June 2015 when Trump announced his candidacy and advocated for tighter border security, saying some Mexican immigrants were “rapists and others came to the U.S. “bringing drugs.”

He also said he will build a wall along the Mexican border, vowing to make Mexico pay for it.

On Thursday, April 28, Latino protesters showed up in droves to protest Trump’s appearance in Costa Mesa. They waved Mexican flags and held signs that read, “Dump Trump” and “California Latinos are Majority … Mr. Trump you’re fired!!!”

Trump didn’t back down.

Within minutes of taking the stage, Trump had the crowd on its feet chanting, “Build that wall.”

That’s the kind of rhetoric that some new citizens said inspired them to become eligible to vote.

DECISION 2016: Trump projected to win 133 of 172 California GOP delegates

In California, more than 850,000 people registered to vote between January 1 and March 31. That’s twice as much when compared to the same period in 2012, another presidential election year, according to Political Data, a company that provides political data to campaigns.

This growth is largely Latino and Democrat, according to the company.

Jack Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College, said if Republicans nominate Trump, the California party could face continued difficulty wooing Latino voters.

“This year, the most important decision for sustaining the party’s growth is in the hands of its voters,” said Pitney, former research director for the Republican National Committee. “If they want the party to get stronger, the worst thing they could do is vote for Trump. He would lose California massively in the fall, and drive record numbers of Hispanics to register and vote as Democrats.”

Jose Tovar and his daughter, Ana, of Perris, passed their citizenship interview Wednesday, April 27, and said they’re excited about voting.

“Now, if we don’t agree with the system of government we can make a point,” said Jose Tovar, 55, in Spanish.

“I won’t tell you who I’m voting for, but I will say who I’m voting against: Donald Trump,” added Tovar, who has been living in the U.S. for more than 25 years.

The same goes for his 23-year-old daughter.

Ana Tovar has been living in the U.S. since she was 18. She knew there would be some level of anti-immigrant discrimination, but not to the extent she’s encountered, for example, when speaking Spanish in public, or with Trump’s rhetoric.

Among California voters, only 11 percent of Latinos have a favorable view of Trump, while 83 percent have an unfavorable perspective of him, according to a Field Poll released in April. The Field Poll is a nonpartisan California public opinion firm.

Tim Clark, Trump’s California campaign manager, could not be reached for comment.

But at a Pennsylvania rally April 21, Trump said he will win the Hispanic vote because Latinos helped him win the Nevada caucuses.

The Tovars, from the Mexican state of Jalisco, served as proof that obtaining U.S. citizenship is not an impossible process – as some Latino immigrants envision it to be.

“Be prepared. Look confident,” Jose Tovar told a group of immigrants preparing for the citizenship process at TODEC Legal Center in Perris on Wednesday. TODEC is a pro-immigrant group serving Inland migrant communities.

The Tovars, who received assistance from TODEC, stopped by the center Wednesday to let people know they had just passed their naturalization interview. There was a sense of solidarity inside the tightly packed meeting room where staff and volunteers that day helped more than 100 immigrants fill out their citizenship applications.

“Se puede? Si se puede!” they cheered. (“Can we? Yes we can!”)

“It’s history repeating itself,” said Luz Gallegos, community programs director at TODEC Legal Center, remembering the influx of citizenship interest when Republican Pete Wilson was governor.

Prop. 187, a 1994 law championed by Wilson would have barred immigrants who came here illegally from services, including public education and non-emergency health care. Although it was never enacted, Latinos were energized by the battle against it.

“I’m afraid Republicans seem to have forgotten about the Pete Wilson effect – that is, what happens when someone scapegoats and alienates large portions of the population by proposing extreme positions on immigration that divide families and hurt our economy,” said Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, during a Democratic Party conference call Wednesday, April 27.

Still, there are many Latino immigrants in the U.S. who are eligible for citizenship, but haven’t applied.

In fiscal 2015, 730,296 people became citizens nationally, an increase of 11 percent over the previous year.

About 8.8 million immigrants are eligible for citizenship, and some 2.7 million are Mexican. A 2013 Pew Research Center report found the naturalization rate of eligible Mexicans was only 36 percent, while the rate for all other legal immigrants was 68 percent.

It could be different this year.

Research shows that at least for Latinos, those who become citizens during a politically charged environment on immigrant issues, vote at rates substantially higher than native-born or longer term naturalized Latino citizens, according to the University of Southern California’s Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration.

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, a nonprofit advocating for Latino participation in U.S. politics, estimates that 13 million Latinos will cast ballots nationwide in 2016, compared to 11.2 million in 2012 and 9.8 million in 2008.

Saul Muro, 62, of Temecula, is one of them.

Muro has been living in the U.S. for decades and recently decided to become a citizen. He wants to vote in this presidential election. He tried to become a citizen before, but didn’t pass the interview. He hopes taking the TODEC workshop will help him pass this year.

He joked that his wife tells him he has Trump to thank for his decision of becoming a citizen this year. But, he gets teary-eyed when he talks about the real reason he’s applying for citizenship: his family.

“My children congratulate me. They say, ‘How long have we been telling you (to become a citizen),” Muro said in Spanish.

Although Muro has been a permanent resident for years, through former President Ronald Reagan’s amnesty program, he said he still fears being deported, especially if Trump becomes elected.

Being a citizen will allow him to, “Feel more free … in this country that I love so much,” Muro said.

Italia Garcia, a regional coordinator with Mi Familia Vota, which seeks to register Inland Latino voters, said Latino immigrants are now recognizing they have political power.

“Not only are we becoming the majority in numbers … Over the past years we’ve been able to elect officials that represent our community values and are willing to put our community first,” she said.

Staff writer Jeff Horseman contributed to this report.

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Contact the writer: 951-368-9462 or amolina@pe.com