Joe Biden gets backing of key Latina activist Dolores Huerta

Labor and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta on Friday endorsed Joe Biden for president, giving him backing of one of nation’s most prominent Lati leaders.

endorsement comes as campaign says it’s ramping up Lati outreach, expanding some of efforts it launched in key states during primary in an effort to strengn Biden’s support with a voting bloc it ackwledges could be pivotal to his success in vember. former vice president initially struggled to win over Lati voters during primary after facing criticism for Obama administration’s record on immigration.

Huerta will appear on Sunday at an online Todos Con Biden, or Everyone with Biden, event and said in an interview with Associated Press she plans to do “whatever I possibly, humanly can to make sure that Joe Biden gets elected.”

“Our community has just been under constant, constant attack by current administration,” said Huerta, who is based in Los Angeles. “We need somebody who is going to bring everybody toger and end racism and hostility that has been created.”

Huerta co-founded organization that eventually became United Farm Workers of America, a national union for farm laborers. Biden campaign ted her endorsement came on International Workers Day, and Huerta said Biden will “really support strong labor unions.”

During primary, however, Huerta endorsed California Sen. Kamala Harris and criticized Biden for his comments during a primary debate on immigration, accusing him of “speaking just like Republicans” when he expressed opposition to idea of decriminalizing border crossings during a Democratic primary debate.

But she told AP on Friday that she trusts Biden to prioritize challenges confronting Latis and ted that immigration reform “is something president can’t do,” ting big reforms require congressional action.

“I don’t think we’ll have to pressure him” on immigration reform, she said. “I think he realizes what issues are.”

It’s a table shift for a key voice in Lati community, one that suggests Biden is making inroads with a community in which he initially faced challenges. Primary opponent

Biden senior adviser Cristobal Alex said in an interview that campaign’s initial struggles with Lati community were due to a lack of resources that made it tougher for him to get his mess out. Alex ted that candidate’s support among Latis got stronger in some of earlier primary states and said that Biden campaign plans to expand a number of its Lati-focused outreach efforts for general election.

“Our campaign manr is committed to Lati vote, vice president is committed to Lati vote, and so you’re going to see significant investment in weeks and months to come,” he said.

Alex predicted “record” Lati turut for Biden. voters in that bloc, Alex said, “are poised to be difference-makers” in this year’s election, ting “fast-growing Lati populations” in swing states including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

“We’re t taking any vote for granted. We have to compete for Lati voters, t just in places like Arizona and Florida, which people think automatically are Lati states, or Colorado and Nevada, but places like Ohio, where re’s a large Puerto Rican population, or re’s a large Dominican population in Pennsylvania,” he said. “So we’re going to be very attuned to community in each state.”