'The immigrant community is not a pawn': Immigration issues top list for AZ Latino voters
Heading into the November presidential elections, hot-button issues are on the minds of voters across all demographics. For the Latino community in Arizona, economic as well as immigration issues are at the top of the list, according to a recent poll.
On Tuesday, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit Hispanic organization, UnidosUS, released a state breakdown of the results of a poll on the perspectives of Latino voters across the United States. The study, which polled 800 Latino voters nationally, also included an oversample of 250 surveys in Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania, each of which are considered key states.
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Arizona is home to more than 2.3 million Latinos, according to the U.S. Census, which constitutes approximately 33% of the state's population, — roughly 7.4 million. An overwhelming majority of these Latinos (85%) are of Mexican origin and descent.
Poll results suggest that economic concerns are at the top of the state's priority list. Inflation issues, wage concerns and the cost of living remain top of mind for these voters.
Issues related to immigration and the border rank significantly high among Latino voters in Arizona, almost on par with the economy. The relevance of immigration to these voters can be attributed to the state's geography, which borders Mexico, its impact and how that border rhetoric has influenced legislative actions being taken at the state and federal level.
Economic, immigration issues top list for Latino voters in Arizona
Results show that half of the respondents in Arizona prioritize providing a path to citizenship for undocumented individuals who have been in this country for a long time and nearly half (48%) prioritize the same for those under the protection of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, in line with national findings. Almost a third of respondents (30%) also prioritize increasing measures for legal immigration. Respondents had the option to select more than one priority as part of the survey.
Beyond providing citizenship, Latino voters also place significant importance on measures related to border security.
According to the results, more than 80% of Latino voters in Arizona chose fighting against human and drug trafficking as a priority in terms of border protection. Just over half of respondents (51%) prioritized increasing funding for border security.
Similar to national results, the poll shows that Republican-leaning Latinos tend to have a more Trump-like view on immigration issues, prioritizing the fight against human and drug trafficking and valuing more highly increased funding for security, border closures, deportations and border wall expansion.
About half of the respondents in Arizona (49%) selected providing a path to citizenship for long-term undocumented immigrants not only as an important immigration policy, but also as a necessary measure to address problems at the border.
Latino voters want action, advocate says
The latest poll underscores the critical need for immediate action to alleviate the concerns heard across the Latino community in Arizona, Yadira Sánchez, executive director at Poder Latinx, said to La Voz Arizona via email.
"Arizona's recent wave of anti-immigrant policies and laws has made immigration a pressing issue for the safety and well-being of our immigrant community," Sánchez said, alluding to the recent approval of measure HCR 2060 that will appear on the ballot this year, and if approved, would allow state police to enforce federal immigration law, among other things.
Latino voters in the U.S. want actions and reactions that are fair, firm and free of cruelty in response to the situation at the southern border, according to Clarissa Martínez De Castro, vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative at UnidosUS. This is particularly relevant following the recent executive actions signed by President Joe Biden, which will allow millions of undocumented immigrants to obtain residency without leaving the country and limit the number of asylum cases processed at the southern border.
UnidosUS estimates that about half of Arizona's registered Latino voters are under 40 years old and that 30% of these are under 30 years old, which tends to be younger than the average electorate nationally.
Of particular relevance to the November elections is also the number of undecided or independent voters. Nationally, 17% of registered Latino voters identify as undecided. However, in Arizona, this number is above 20%.
More than 855,000 Latinos are expected to cast their ballot in November in Arizona, according to a report from the NALEO Education Fund, which is equivalent to nearly one in four voters in the state. In 2024, nearly 20% of Latino voters in Arizona will vote for the first time in a presidential election, and a third of this group of the electorate will be new since the 2016 Trump-Clinton race.
These demographic changes are key and will play a decisive role in the next elections.
According to Sánchez, one of the organization's utmost priorities is to continue empowering the Latino community to register and vote in order to ensure that justice and dignity prevail for the immigrant community.
"It is through our collective political power that we can influence and drive change among key decision-makers who are playing politics with our lives," she said. "The immigrant community is not a pawn to be played with."
Poll results show that immigration and border issues will have a significant impact on the election of the president and Congress among undecided Latino voters. At the national level, for around 80% of undecided voters surveyed these issues could decide their vote. In Arizona, the stance of undecided voters on immigration has an even greater impact, with a net impact of 66 points. This means that a significantly higher proportion of voters in Arizona are influenced by candidates' positions on immigration compared to other states.
“Hispanics are the canary of the mind,” said Martínez De Castro, highlighting that, although eight out of 10 Latinos in the U.S. are citizens, this is the community that is most impacted by the deterioration of the immigration system, including the 5.5 million U.S. citizen children who have an undocumented parent, the more than 11 million Americans who are members of a family with mixed immigration status and those of Latino origin who are detained and questioned on their status despite being citizens.
"So as one of the most directly impacted communities, we believe these findings are timely and something candidates should heed in how they approach the issue of immigration," she said.
Reach La Voz reporter Silvia Solis at silvia.solis@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Immigration top issue for Latino voters in Arizona, according to poll
