National

South Florida Republicans in this year’s midterm elections are trying to capitalize on turnout success among Latinos in 2020 while Democrats vie for voters, too.

Driving the news: The Republican National Committee opened a Hispanic community center for cultural and campaign events in Doral, just two miles from former President Trump’s golf course, and in a city with a heavy Venezuelan population.

By the numbers: About 54% of Miami-Dade Latinos voted for Trump in 2020. Biden still won the county, but those votes helped trim his lead margin, and handed Trump a Florida victory.

The other side: The Democratic National Committee says it is starting its midterm efforts nationwide earlier, too.

The DNC announced a $20 million investment to get going early, Lucas Acosta, coalitions director and senior spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, told Axios.

In South Florida that will include combating the kinds of successful misinformation campaigns that were a big part of GOP success in 2020, Acosta says.

Be smart: South Florida’s Cuban-Americans tends to lean Republican, but veteran pollsters and demographers will all tell you that Miami-Dade County’s Latino population doesn’t track with the rest of the Latino population across the country.

The bottom line: With 30 federal seats at stake, Florida will stay a central piece of the political strategy in 2022.

Republicans and Democrats go all in for Florida Latinos

With 30 federal seats at stake, Florida will stay a central piece of the political strategy this year.

Illustration of an elephant trunk holding a megaphone.  

2022 elections

Latin America and Latinos

South Florida Republicans in this year’s midterm elections are trying to capitalize on turnout success among Latinos in 2020 while Democrats vie for voters, too.Driving the news: The Republican National Committee opened a Hispanic community center for cultural and campaign events in Doral, just two miles from former President Trump’s golf course, and in a city with a heavy Venezuelan population.

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

Much attention has focused on Hurricane Ian's storm surge flooding coastal areas of Florida, setting records in coastal areas like Fort Myers and Naples. 

But the National Hurricane Center warned in an advisory Wednesday that "widespread, life-threatening catastrophic flash and urban flooding, with major to record flooding along rivers, is expected to continue across central Florida"  — damage that will last after the storm moves away.

Be Smart: Florida's topography differs when it comes to its inland waters, Tampa-based U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist Kevin Grimsley told Axios Today. 

The panhandle and Tampa Bay area's surface waterways are sloped, but Central Florida is flatter. Add to that the ground is already saturated at this point in the rainy season. 

Threat level: Even when the rain ends, that doesn't mean the flooding will, Grimsley said.

What we're watching: Smaller, urban streams tend to "react and flood very quickly," but larger rivers take longer to build up and flood — and then are equally slow to recede.

"The hurricane moves on here in the next day or two, hopefully," Grimsely said. But "flooding could continue for a week or more."

Of note: Climate change-related sea level rise is making surge-related flooding more damaging.

Go deeper: We haven't built for this climate 

Tampa Bay

Axios Tampa Bay Thought Bubble

Picture of the Tampa Bay skyline with TPA written across it.

Get smarter, faster about what’s happening in your backyard with local reporter Ben Montgomery.

Axios Tampa Bay

Miami

Miami Alerts

A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Miami.

Axios Miami Thought Bubble

Axios Miami

Flooding from Hurricane Ian likely to linger in Florida

"Flooding could continue for a week or more," U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist warns.

The Hillsborough River at low tide just now from the North Boulevard Bridge. 

The Hillsborough River at low tide from the North Boulevard Bridge. Photo: Ben Montgomery/Axios

Hurricane Ian

Extreme weather

Climate change

Much attention has focused on <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Hurricane Ian&#x27;s" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/09/27/live-hurricane-ian-southwest-florida" data-vars-content-id="a312aca7-6948-454e-a3da-27f8a2a8ea15" data-vars-headline="Flooding from Hurricane Ian likely to linger in Florida" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/09/27/live-hurricane-ian-southwest-florida" target="_self">Hurricane Ian&#x27;s</a> storm surge flooding coastal areas of Florida, setting records in coastal areas like Fort Myers and Naples. <ul><li>But the National Hurricane Center warned in <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="an advisory" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/282057.shtml?text" data-vars-content-id="a312aca7-6948-454e-a3da-27f8a2a8ea15" data-vars-headline="Flooding from Hurricane Ian likely to linger in Florida" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/282057.shtml?text" target="_blank">an advisory</a> Wednesday that &quot;widespread, life-threatening <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="catastrophic flash and urban flooding" data-vars-click-url="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/28/hurricane-ian-flooding-inland-florida/" data-vars-content-id="a312aca7-6948-454e-a3da-27f8a2a8ea15" data-vars-headline="Flooding from Hurricane Ian likely to linger in Florida" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/28/hurricane-ian-flooding-inland-florida/" target="_blank">catastrophic flash and urban flooding</a>, with major to record flooding along rivers, is expected to continue across central Florida&quot; — damage that will last after the storm moves away.</li></ul>

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

A look at the scientific breakthroughs changing the world, explorations in space and in worlds beyond our own and the threats posed to us by our own planet, both out of our control and of our own making.

Science

Russian authorities have imposed a system of interrogation, detention and forced deportation for civilians in areas of Ukraine they now occupy.

The big picture: The U.S. State Department estimates that between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainians, including at least 260,000 children, have been through Russia's "filtration" process, which Ukrainian and U.S. officials have said amounts to a war crime. 

Many of these children, including some taken from their parents, are believed to have been adopted by Russian families, according to multiple reports and human rights groups. 

Many adults — particularly those suspected of working with the Ukrainian army or nationalist militias — are believed to be in Russian detention camps in eastern Ukraine, a recent U.S. intelligence assessment found. 

Taras Ulyanchenko, a 21-year-old student from Mariupol who went through the filtration process, was more fortunate. He was ultimately able to leave Russia, but only after detention, intense interrogation and a long and stressful journey. 

Speaking to Axios via multiple video interviews, Ulyanchenko gave the "Axios Today" podcast a harrowing account of his experience through Russia's filtration system.

When the war started in February, Ulyanchenko was in his final year at Mariupol State University, studying political science.

After weeks of bombardment, Russian occupation turned Mariupol into "hell on Earth," Ulyanchenko says. His mother had died from cancer two years before the Russian invasion, and he says his father, a factory worker, was killed by a Russian sniper during the war, leaving him to care for his 80-year-old grandmother. 

A destroyed residential building in Mariupol. 

A destroyed residential building in Mariupol that Ulyanchenko says is about 300 feet from his building. Photo courtesy of Taras Ulyanchenko

After being in hiding for six weeks, Ulyanchenko and his grandmother evacuated to Donetsk.

That is where Ulyanchenko first encountered filtration. Russian soldiers and officials weren't worried about his elderly grandmother, he says. Instead, they focused on young men like him.

Ulyanchenko was taken to a police station, fingerprinted and interrogated. Asked where his military identification was, Ulyanchenko says he told the officials he was only a student. Fortunately, he had his student ID with him. He also suspects it helped that he was accompanying his ill grandmother.

“She was sick at the time. We were together all the time, so I think it removed their suspicions that I might be a soldier or whatever else they thought I might be,” he says. 

He was given a verification document, and the next day Ulyanchenko says he and his grandmother attempted to cross the Russian border because there was "no other option" due to the "impossible living conditions." 

At the border, Ulyanchenko's grandmother was allowed through but he says he and several others were taken to a room by a Russian soldier for questioning. 

During the interrogation, detainees were given questionnaires that asked what they thought about the Russian and Ukrainian governments, Russia's "special operation" in Ukraine, and Ukrainian nationalistic battalions.

Weighing his answers so that he "could make it through this filtration," Ulyanchenko tells Axios he said that he was "neutral" on the questions about the Russian and Ukrainian governments and Russia's operation and he was critical of the nationalistic battalions. 

Inside the room Ulyanchenko was held in, there were four Russian soldiers and a man — "the interrogator" — in civilian clothes holding a baseball bat, he says, adding that a former Ukrainian soldier who looked roughed up was also detained there. 

Ulyanchenko says he was told to take off his clothes so they could check for tattoos that might indicate a military regiment (he doesn't have any). During the strip search, he says he could see the former soldier being beaten in the leg with the bat. 

Ulyanchenko tells Axios that the interrogator took his phone to check all of his social media accounts while questioning him.

When asked whether he had taken part in the 2013 protests that toppled Ukraine's Russian-backed president, Viktor Yanukovych, Ulyanchenko told his interrogator he was only 12 at the time.

Asked if he was now a Nazi, Ulyanchenko immediately said "no."

"With every new question, he was raising his voice at me a bit more, and this tension was growing bigger and bigger,” Ulyanchenko explains. "This was a scary experience. ... But I promised myself not to react and to do everything to make it through."

In total, Ulyanchenko says he spent about five hours, including 30–40 minutes of interrogation, in detention at the border.

He was let through — crucially, with his Ukrainian passport — and reunited with his grandmother. 

Many others, however, have been less fortunate. 

A recently declassified U.S. intelligence assessment found that detainees typically face one of three fates: Some are given documentation and allowed to remain in Ukraine; others are forcibly deported to Russia for additional screening; and "those deemed most threatening" are likely detained in prisons in eastern Ukraine and Russia, "though little is known about their fates."

Oleksandra Drik, who has been documenting stories like Ulyanchenko's for Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, says, "people are being treated like animals, something that you wouldn't even imagine to see in the worst movie."

Taras Ulyanchenko and his grandmother in Georgia. 

Taras Ulyanchenko and his grandmother after they arrived in Georgia. Photo courtesy of Taras Ulyanchenko

While Ulyanchenko and his grandmother felt fortunate to have gotten through filtration, their journey was far from over. 

Some of their Russian friends drove the pair to a nearby town. A few days later, they took a 13-hour train ride to the south and then another train across the border to Tbilisi, Georgia. From there, they flew to Turkey and, finally, to Germany, where they continue to live today. 

The declassified U.S. intelligence assessment found that there are at least 18 filtration centers in eastern Ukraine and western Russia, though it noted there are likely others. Russia is scaling up the operation.

Russian officials have frequently branded Ukrainian soldiers, particularly anyone affiliated with the nationalist militias, as terrorists. 

Moscow claims the forced deportations are humanitarian evacuations. The Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to a request for comment 

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said it was supporting Ukraine and the international community's efforts to "collect, document and preserve evidence of atrocities" in Ukraine. “Accountability is imperative. ... We are dedicated to holding perpetrators of war crimes and other atrocities accountable.” 

For Ulyanchenko, he thinks the filtration process and the documented abuses will only end when the war ends. 

“They don’t treat people like human beings,” he says. "The Western world — and the whole world actually — should not look for excuses for Russia’s actions."

Go deeper... On the front lines in Donbas: One Ukrainian soldier's story

Inside Russia's "filtration" system for Ukrainian civilians

Russia has imposed a system of interrogation, detention and forced deportation for civilians in areas of Ukraine it occupies.

Civilians are being evacuated along humanitarian corridors from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol under the control of Russian military and pro-Russian separatists, on March 24, 2022

Civilians evacuate Mariupol, under the control of the Russian military and pro-Russian separatists, on March 24. Photo: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Ukraine

Russia

Russian authorities have imposed a system of<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text=" interrogation, detention and forced deportation" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/17/un-mariupol-gross-violations-residents-dire-situation" data-vars-content-id="c9716356-86f1-4a8b-8380-d18c543b312a" data-vars-headline="Inside Russia&#x27;s &quot;filtration&quot; system for Ukrainian civilians" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/17/un-mariupol-gross-violations-residents-dire-situation" target="_self"> interrogation, detention and forced deportation</a> for civilians in areas of Ukraine they now occupy.The big picture: The U.S. State Department <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="estimates" data-vars-click-url="https://www.state.gov/russias-filtration-operations-forced-disappearances-and-mass-deportations-of-ukrainian-citizens/" data-vars-content-id="c9716356-86f1-4a8b-8380-d18c543b312a" data-vars-headline="Inside Russia&#x27;s &quot;filtration&quot; system for Ukrainian civilians" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.state.gov/russias-filtration-operations-forced-disappearances-and-mass-deportations-of-ukrainian-citizens/" target="_blank">estimates</a> that between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainians, including at least 260,000 children, have been through Russia&#x27;s &quot;filtration&quot; process, which Ukrainian and U.S. officials have said amounts to a war crime.

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

Nevada’s biggest workers' organization — the Culinary Union — says it's helping Democrats in the midterms by focusing on the economy and battling misconceptions about what's caused record inflation.

Why it matters: The union, which represents 60,000 Nevada hotel staffers, bartenders and casino workers, is a political powerhouse and took credit for helping President Biden win in Nevada in 2020. It aims to reach 1.1 million voters this election on behalf of Democrats — its largest-ever door-knocking campaign.  

Union members — 54% of whom are Latino — are frustrated at how some economists, corporations and the GOP have blamed inflation on stimulus checks and demands for higher wages, the union's secretary-treasurer and former president, Ted Pappageorge, told Axios Today. 

"Democrats need to come out swinging. They need to come out fighting about inflation," Pappageorge said.  

He pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act as a starting point. 

The big picture: Inflation is eroding support among Latinos for the Democratic party, polling shows.

That's crucial in Nevada, where Latino voters have dramatically increased their presence. The Nevada Current reports that more than 165,000 Nevada Latinos are likely to vote this November, a nearly 6% increase from the 2020 general election, according to projections by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund.

Details: The door-knocking campaign started in March and includes 100 members who are taking leave from work to canvass, the union says. 

It's knocked on 50,000 doors so far and hopes to double that by the end of the month.  

The intrigue: Nevada's population is majority non-white, according to the Census Bureau, and the third-most diverse state in the country. That's a major reason why it's vying to be the first primary state for Democrats in the 2024 Presidential Election. 

The Democratic National Committee meets in Chicago later this month to determine who will vote first.

Nevada's biggest union is stumping on the economy for Dems

The union represents 60,000 Nevada hotel staffers, bartenders and casino workers.

A Culinary Union member in Nevada canvasses voters at an apartment complex, carrying multiple pamphlets

Culinary Union member Maria Orozco (R) hands voter information to a resident as she canvasses at an apartment complex in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 8. Photo: David Becker for the Washington Post via Getty. 

Midterm elections 2022

Nevada’s biggest workers&#x27; organization — the Culinary Union — says it&#x27;s helping Democrats in the midterms by focusing on the economy and battling misconceptions about what&#x27;s caused record inflation.Why it matters: The union, which represents 60,000 Nevada hotel staffers, bartenders and casino workers, is a political powerhouse and took credit for helping <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="President Biden win in Nevada" data-vars-click-url="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/08/932744233/culinary-workers-union-take-credit-for-bidens-win-in-nevada" data-vars-content-id="d45a11f1-7af7-4fc7-a8ea-8ea435c13716" data-vars-headline="Nevada&#x27;s biggest union is stumping on the economy for Dems" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/08/932744233/culinary-workers-union-take-credit-for-bidens-win-in-nevada" target="_blank">President Biden win in Nevada</a> in 2020. It aims to reach 1.1 million voters this election on behalf of Democrats — its largest-ever door-knocking campaign.

The grassroots efforts across Europe to help and house Ukrainians arriving in unfamiliar countries have helped thousands find refuge, but could also be a human trafficker's “dream," refugee advocates are warning.

The big picture: Almost 3 million people — mostly women and children — have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, according to the U.N. refugee agency. The vast majority have sought refuge in Poland, which has taken in more than 1.7 million refugees in the last 19 days.

On the ground: Daphne Panayotatos of Refugees International visited several border crossings into Poland last week, where hundreds of traumatized Ukrainians were greeted with free SIM cards, blankets, meals, and offers of rides. Hopefully, most people are well-intentioned, she told Axios, but added:

“Someone’s holding a cardboard sign that says ‘I can take three people to Berlin’ and who knows? It’s really creating a huge risk and without proper structures in place to register people, we could see some really negative consequences of this.”

World Vision Romania's Andreea Bujor notes that Romania, where over 400,000 Ukrainians have arrived, was already known as a hub of human trafficking. The priority when the war began was to provide emergency aid as quickly as possible, but now "we have to think about these things, too," Bujor says.

Driving the news: Yesterday, the City of Berlin began warning Ukrainian refugees arriving by train to be careful of offers of money or accommodation, over concern they could be trafficked or forced into prostitution.

Germany’s interior ministry says more than 300,000 private homes have been offered as shelter for refugees. But the German government is now asking people to register their homes with the government, rather than approaching people individually. 

Polish authorities on Thursday detained a 49-year-old man for allegedly raping a 19-year-old Ukrainian woman.

Aid groups are particularly concerned about the risks for children who were unaccompanied or separated from families, a danger highlighted by UNICEF and UNHCR last week.

An estimated 100,000 children live in orphanages and institutions in Ukraine, according to a Monday release by Save the Children.

"These children are some of the most vulnerable in Ukraine and face a heightened risk of trafficking, abuse, and other forms of exploitation," Save the Children’s Eastern Europe director Irina Saghoyan said in a statement.

What to watch: A coordinated, regional response is key, Panayotatos said, because if one neighboring country has weaker controls traffickers will simply go there.

Zoom out: A 2020 report from the European Commission said its “conservative estimate” is that human traffickers made 29.4 billion euros annually.

Listen to the full conversation with Daphne Panayotatos on Axios Today

Refugee groups warn of trafficking risk for fleeing Ukrainians

There's not a clear tracking system for who is going where.

Refugees rest at a train station in Berlin. Photo: Michael Hanschke/picture alliance via Getty

The grassroots efforts across Europe to help and house Ukrainians arriving in unfamiliar countries have helped thousands find refuge, but could also be a human trafficker&#x27;s “dream,&quot; refugee advocates are warning.The big picture: Almost 3 million people — mostly women and children — have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="according to the U.N. refugee agency" data-vars-click-url="https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine" data-vars-content-id="d4827a30-48e6-443c-abe7-59553b0b26cd" data-vars-headline="Refugee groups warn of trafficking risk for fleeing Ukrainians" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine" target="_blank">according to the U.N. refugee agency</a>. The vast majority have sought refuge in Poland, which has taken in more than 1.7 million refugees in the last 19 days.

Sections

Axios Local

Axios gets you smarter, faster with news & information that matters.

About

Subscribe

Niala Boodhoo

Stories

Flooding from Hurricane Ian likely to linger in Florida

Nevada's biggest union is stumping on the economy for Dems

Inside Russia's "filtration" system for Ukrainian civilians

Refugee groups warn of trafficking risk for fleeing Ukrainians

Republicans and Democrats go all in for Florida Latinos