Over the years, the public opinion research firm LatinoDecisions has developed a reputation for accuracy in polling Latinx voters. In a LatinoDecisions poll taken at the time of the November election, immigration reform emerged as the third most important issue, after only health care and the economy.
President Trump’s rhetoric was seen as harmful to Latinos, and the poll showed Latinos both highly motivated to vote, and moving away from the Republicans.
In the poll, 83 percent of Latinx respondents said that they supported passage of the DREAM Act giving permanent legal status to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. Only 8 percent opposed the DREAM Act. 77 percent said that they wanted legislation that would make the United States more welcoming. 88 percent said that politicians should stop stereotyping immigrants and start working on bipartisan immigration reform.
Sixty-eight per cent felt that Donald Trump is using “toxic rhetoric” to divide Americans. 70 percent felt that the Republican Party either does not care about Latinx people or is actively hostile to them, and 78 percent said that they were not proud of Donald Trump as president.
