Amid the nationwide firestorm over immigration reform, a new survey says America’s Latinos are feeling more discrimination.
But they also say the debate over illegal immigrants and border security is leading to greater political unity, according to the “2006 National Survey of Latinos,” released today by the Pew Hispanic Center.
“Latinos are feeling more discriminated against, politically energized and unified following the immigration policy debate and the pro-immigration marches this spring,” the survey’s authors said in a statement.
According to the survey, 54 percent of Latinos see discrimination as a “major” problem, up from 51 percent when the survey was last conducted in 2004 and 44 percent in 2002.
Pew said 75 percent of Hispanics surveyed say the ongoing debate over immigration policy will encourage more Latinos to vote in November, and 63 percent think recent pro-immigrant rallies “signal the beginning of a new and lasting social movement,” Pew concluded.
Pew said its survey was conducted by telephone among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 Hispanic adults from June 5 to July 3, 2006. The survey has a margin of error of 3.8 percent for the full sample.
“The survey shows that Latinos to some extent are holding the Republican Party responsible for what they perceive to be the negative consequences of the immigration debate, but the political impact of that perception is uncertain,” Pew said. “Party affiliation among Latino registered voters has not changed significantly since the spring of 2004. However, the share of Latinos who believe the Republican Party has the best position on immigration has dropped from 25 percent to 16 percent in that time, with virtually the entire loss coming among foreign-born Hispanics.”
As for illegal immigrants, 72 percent of Latinos say they help more than hurt the U.S. economy because they provide low-cost labor. Forty-eight percent say more Latin Americans should be allowed to work legally in this country.
Latinos split on the issue of whether employers should be required to verify a worker’s legal status. Foreign-born Latinos overwhelmingly favor such a rule, but foreign-born Hispanics are more divided, with 50 percent opposing the verification requirement.
