65% of Latino voters in Wisconsin chose President Barack Obama

MILWAUKEE -- Voter turnout for Tuesday's election was near 87% in the city of Milwaukee, and one group in particular was a big part of the turnout. 

Christine Neumann-Ortiz is the executive director of Voces de la Frontera. She says members of her organization knocked on 26,000 doors and made over 9,000 phone calls to rally Latino voters.

In Wisconsin, 65% of Latino voters chose President Barack Obama, and the national average was even higher. 

Neumann-Ortiz says Latino voters flocked to President Obama because of his policy of deferred action -- which allows some immigrants who were brought to the United States when they were young to stay and apply for work.

Neumann-Ortiz called Republican challenger Mitt Romney's policy "heartless."

"Mitt Romney's policy of self-deportation was a promise to say 'I'm going to make your lives so horrible that I'm going to flee the United States,'" Neumann-Ortiz said.

UW-Milwaukee Professor of Governmental Affairs Mordecai Lee says the electorate will continue to grow more diverse and politicians may have to change too. 

"This is the ultimate impact of democracy. You want my vote, change your opinion," Lee said.

Manny Perez is with the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. He says the Latino support for President Obama cannot be overlooked. 

"Certainly it sends a clear message that Hispanics are very relevant," Perez said.

It is a message heard loud and clear -- at least by his organization. 

"We are already coordinating to meet and take a serious approach to the meaning of these numbers and what practical actions and consequences they will have," Perez said.

Wisconsin's Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner has been a leading voice for tough immigration reform. In 2005, he introduced the Border Protection Act, which in part, called for building a fence in some areas along the Mexican border. 

Sensenbrenner's office declined an interview request from FOX6 News.