Hispanics Upset about Bush Immigration Enforcement Policies that McCain would Continue

WASHINGTON (Pew) September 20, 2008 ― Half (50%) of all Hispanics say that the situation of Hispanics in this country is worse now than it was a year ago, according to a new nationwide survey of 2,015 Hispanic adults conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center.

This pessimism is especially prevalent among immigrants, who account for 54% of all Hispanic adults in the United States. Fully 63% of these Hispanic immigrants say that the situation of Hispanics has worsened over the past year. In 2007, just 42% of all adult Hispanic immigrants — and just 33% of all Hispanic adults — said the same thing.

These increasingly downbeat assessments come at a time when the Hispanic community in this country — numbering approximately 46 million, or 15.4% of the total U.S. civilian non-institutional population — has been hit hard by rising unemployment and stepped-up immigration enforcement.

In the survey, nearly one-in-ten Hispanic adults — native-born U.S. citizens (8%) and immigrants (10%) alike — report that in the past year the police or other authorities have stopped them and asked them about their immigration status.

Some Hispanics are experiencing other difficulties because of their ethnicity. One-in-seven (15%) say that they have had trouble in the past year finding or keeping a job because they are Hispanic. One-in-ten (10%) report the same about finding or keeping housing.

On the question of immigration enforcement, Hispanics disapprove of all five enforcement measures asked about in this survey — and generally do so by lopsided margins.

More than four-in-five Hispanics (81%) say that immigration enforcement should be left mainly to the federal authorities rather than the local police; 76% disapprove of workplace raids; 73% disapprove of the criminal prosecution of undocumented immigrants who are working without authorization; and 70% disapprove of the criminal prosecution of employers who hire undocumented immigrants. A narrow majority (53%) disapproves of a requirement that employers check a federal database to verify the legal immigration status of all prospective hires.

Most Hispanics (63%) say that there has been an increase in the past year in immigration enforcement actions targeted at undocumented immigrants. And, in response to an open-ended question, a plurality (30%) of those who say there has been such an increase cite anti-immigrant sentiment as the biggest cause. Smaller shares cite government or policy-related measures (21%), security-related concerns (11%) or motivations related to the economy (9%).

The survey finds that a majority of Hispanics worry about deportation. Some 40% say they worry a lot and an additional 17% say they worry some that they themselves, a family member or a close friend may be deported. This is up slightly from 2007, when 53% of Hispanic adults said that they worried a lot or some about deportation.

Not surprisingly, worries about deportation and perceptions of discrimination in jobs or housing because of Hispanic ethnicity correlate with the view that Hispanics’ situation has worsened in the past year. Two-thirds (68%) of Hispanics who worry a lot that they or someone close to them may be deported say that Hispanics’ situation in the country today is worse than it was a year ago, as do 63% of Hispanics who have experienced job difficulties because of their ethnicity and 71% of Hispanics who report housing difficulties because of their ethnicity.

Hispanics are an important voting group in the November 4th election, and their widespread pessimism about the situation of Hispanics as well as their strong opposition to federal enforcement policies could well have consequences in the political arena.

About half (49%) of all Hispanics say that the Democratic Party has more concern for Hispanics, while just 7% say the Republican Party has more concern. Since 2004, the share of Hispanics who say that the Democratic Party has more concern for Hispanics has increased by 14 percentage points. Most of this gain for the Democrats comes from a reduction in the share of Hispanics who say there is no difference between the parties.