US Politics
Nearly 80 percent of US Latinos view Trump’s policies as harmful to their community
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A majority of U.S. Latinos believe their situation has worsened under Donald Trump, a Pew Research Center poll released on Monday found. This marks the first such deterioration since the survey began tracking almost 20 years ago.
The poll revealed 68 percent of Latinos felt their circumstances had declined in the past year. Crucially, about 80 percent believe Trump administration policies do more harm than good to their community, a primary reason for their negative assessment.
Trump’s mass-deportation efforts and a sluggish economy are cited as factors. Latino votes in the 2026 midterm elections could be critical for Republicans to maintain congressional majorities.
“There’s no doubt that if people draw the connections to a particular administration or political party, this could have some political implications in coming elections,” said Mark Lopez, director of Pew’s Race and Ethnicity Research.
Trump’s support among Latino voters was historically strong for a Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election, aided by their economic concerns and gains among Latino men.
Pew surveyed 4,923 Latinos between October 6 and October 16. The margin of error for Latino respondents is 2.6 percentage points.
The nonpartisan organization said 1,116 of the Latino respondents were immigrants. About 82 percent of Latinos are in the U.S. legally, according to other Pew data.
Pew’s results tracked with an October Reuters/Ipsos poll that showed 32 percent of Hispanics approved of Trump’s job performance, well below his overall 42 percent approval rating at the time.
About 70 percent of Latinos responding to the Pew study said the Trump administration is “doing too much” when it comes to deporting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, up from 56% in early March. But they agreed that some people do need to be deported.
In addition, 52 percent said they worry they or someone close to them might be deported, compared with 42 percent in the early weeks of Trump’s second term.
Lopez said while the report showed broad discontent among Latinos, the data was nuanced in ways that may influence voting. The economy ranked as the top issue among Latinos in the 2024 election, and while the cost of living remains high, about half of Latinos surveyed said they expect the situation to improve.