Some Latinos fear for future under Trump administration
40 percent of those polled have ‘serious concerns’ about place in America
While Latinos are divided about their future in the United States under President Donald Trump, many believe social and political conditions for Latinos will worsen, particularly with mass deportations on the horizon, according to a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.
The survey, released Thursday, was administered to 1,000 Latino adults the month before Trump’s inauguration in January. It comes at a particularly contentious time for im- migrants, many of whom are fearful of an administration set to drastically clamp down on illegal immigration.
An estimated 54 percent of Latinos said they feel confident about their place in America after Trump’s election, but the remaining 41 percent have “serious concerns.”
“Hispanics who do not hold
U.S. citizenship and do not hold a green card — a group likely to be in the country without authorization — are more likely than the U.S.-born and other immigrants to express concern,” the report said.
The Trump administration this week announced new deportation regulations in which anyone in the country illegally who is charged with any offense or suspected of committing a crime could be a target for deportation. The measures drastically expand the number of undocumented immigrants vulnerable to deportation.
Nearly half of Latino adults — regardless of their immigration status — said they worry “a lot” or “some” that they or a close friend or family member could be deported, while 52 percent said they are not worried.
Those concerns are little changed from 2013, according to the report, when 46 percent of Latinos said they were worried.
Preston Rudy, a professor of sociology at San Jose State, said it’s likely many more Latinos are fearful of deportation today than when the survey was conducted.
“People are probably a little more worried now because the terms of the (immigration) debate have shifted,” he said. “I think even if you are U.S.-born, you all of a sudden have a greater sense of the risks at stake, and you know more people that are likely to be deported than you knew before.”
There were an estimated 57 million Latinos in the U.S. in 2015, accord- ing to Pew. The majority — about 66 percent— were U.S.-born while 3-in-10 are lawful permanent residents and about 4-in-10 are undocumented immigrants.
The Latinos surveyed considered improving the country’s educational system a top priority in the next four years, followed by protecting the country from terrorist attacks; strengthening the nation’s economy; reducing health care costs; and lastly, dealing with immigration issues.
Their priorities show, “how much the Latino community is participating fully in the political and cultural life of the United States,” said Rudy.
The bilingual surveys were administered over the phone from Dec. 7 to Jan. 15 by an independent research company hired by Pew.