A February 17, 2017 photo by myrockethasnobrakes from Tampa, Florida (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license)
On Tuesday, experts released new battleground poll results conducted by Latino Decisions —on behalf of America’s Voice, Mi Familia Vota, Indivisible, NAACP, The Immigration Hub, and AAPI Civic Engagement Fund— of Latino, Asian American, African American, Native American, and White likely voters in 61 districts across the United States.
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Voters of every race are upset and angry over the child separation and detention policy, by large margins. Even conservatives are opposed to the child detention policies and it makes them angry. Overall 73% of voter in battleground House districts say they are angry about the child separations at the border.
There is a strong majority against Trump’s strict immigration policies and instead in support of welcoming immigration policies. 79% want to see the Dream Act passed, while only 36% think the Trump border wall is a good idea. By a 2-1 margin, every racial group opposes child detention policies, and the same goes for 2-1 opposition to ending domestic violence protections for asylum seekers.
Strong majorities agree that immigrants just want to provide a better life for their families. When confronted with competing messages on immigration, 61% of whites, and over 75% of Latinos, AAPIs and African Americans agreed that immigrants just want to provide a better life for their families, just like you and me, and support legislation to make America more welcoming to immigrants. Only a minority of voters agreed with the conservative narrative that immigrants are taking jobs away from real Americans and hurting our economy.
Voters of all races and ethnicities think Trump is increasing division and racial hostility. In 2016, it was just campaign rhetoric. Now, it is 18 months of living through his ugly rhetoric and his policies. Overall 60% think Trump has had a negative or racist impact on minorities, only 22% think he has been positive. A majority of every racial group agrees with this, including whites.
Finally, the poll reports overwhelming support for themes of unity and inclusion. Voters are tired of hostility, attacks, and division. Over 85% of all voters agreed with this statement: “Today, certain politicians and their greedy lobbyists hurt everyone by handing kickbacks to the rich, de-funding our schools, and threatening our seniors with cuts to Medicare and Social Security. Then they turn around and point the finger for our hard times at poor families, Black people, and new immigrants. We need to join together with people from all walks of life to fight for our future.”
Matt Barreto, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Latino Decisions, said, “There is a strong majority against Trump’s strict immigration policies and instead battleground voters support welcoming immigration policies. Voters of every race and ethnicity are upset and angry over the child separation and detention policy, by large margins. Overwhelmingly, voters support themes of unity and inclusion. They are tired of hostility, attacks, and division.”
Laura E. Evans, Associate Professor, University of Washington, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, said, “Native Americans are watching Trump administration immigration policies, and most don’t like what they see. Over two-thirds of Native American respondents oppose the policy to separate children from parents when they immigrate and support paths to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. A clear majority believe Trump is harming Native Americans while also increasing hate and racism against Latinos, Blacks, and Muslims.”
Taeku Lee, Principal, Asian American Decisions, said, “In 2012, an election that demobilized many voters, 1.14 million new Asian American voters mobilized. Going into these midterms, AAPI voter turnout will increase further. As the data shows, AAPI voters find it much more important to vote in 2018 when compared to 2014. Minority voters are the reason for the strong presence of democratic votes because of both the issues and the ways in which the Trump administration has affected them specifically. The poll shows upwards of 70% of AAPI voters are likely to support issues of democratic candidates, and this constituency believes that Trump is increasing hate and racism against them and other minorities.”
Karina Martinez, Communications Director, Mi Familia Vota, said, “Our vision has always been to create Latino political power, and, through our community work, we’ve found that Latinos are tired of being attacked and that the actions by this administration are solidifying a rejection of the conservative narrative. Between anti-immigrant policies and agendas, Latinos have been continually attacked since President Trump took office. Latinos are looking for candidates who support the issues that affect their families; over 75% Latinos believe that immigrants are just trying to support and provide for their families. Latinos also strongly support inclusion and, come November, the Latino constituency will support candidates who represent unity and who will lead the community with this vision.”
Angel Padilla, National Policy Director, Indivisible National, said, “Protecting immigrant families isn’t a fringe issue. It’s one that people across the country are united on —and Democrats who fail to stand with immigrant communities are ignoring the very real political environment in their districts,” said Angel Padilla, National Policy Director for the Indivisible Project. “This poll shows what we already know—there’s no reason Democrats should be running away from talking about immigration. There is political will to enact real changes: to protect DREAMers, to keep families together, and to stop family detention.”
Derrick Johnson, President and CEO, NAACP, said, “We’ve seen what happens when we elect officials who have no regard for communities of color: babies get separated from their parents at the border, visitors get barred from entering our country based on their religion, and white supremacists are given ample opportunity to injure and kill upstanding citizens at their protests. We have the power to stop these injustices if we go out to the polls in November and vote. It is our responsibility to tell our friends, tell our neighbors, rally up our communities, and make a difference in November.”
Methodology
2,045 registered voters were interviewed in the 61 congressional districts deemed most competitive by Cook, CNN and Crystal Ball, and the overall poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.1%. A minimum of 400 registered voters were interviewed from each racial and ethnic group: Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and white non-Hispanics, which each carry a margin of error of +/- 4.8%. Due to sample size considerations, Native Americans were drawn from a 50-state national sample, while the other four groups were drawn only from the 61 competitive districts. The overall data are weighted to the most recent Census estimates for the registered voter population for age, gender, education, and nativity, and then weighted proportionately to match the overall racial demographics of the combined 61 districts which is 68% white, 15% black, 12% Latino, 4% Asian, 1% Native American. Respondents were randomly selected for interviews through online panels, and verified to be registered to vote, and to live in one of the 61 competitive house districts, in order to participate in the survey. The survey was in the field July 5-July 14, 2018.
