Fund (NALEO), similarly found that 70% of Latino voters are likely to vote this year and an additional 8% said it was possible; over half of them (57%) cited the current immigration debate as the reason they are more likely to vote. Notably, 54% of the NALEO poll respondents said a candidate or party espousing an immigration position they disagreed with would be less likely to vote for that candidate, even if they agreed with most of that candidate or partys positions on other issues. According to Arturo Vargas, NALEO’s Executive Director, "Latinos are feeling less optimistic and more under siege.”
Ironically, the Republican Party’s continued embrace of its restrictionist wing—the most visible example being the debate over the Arizona anti-immigration law—could do very little to win new voters to the GOP, and a lot to further motivate and alienate the fastest-growing group of new voters in the nation. Now that’s a true read on the politics of immigration in 2010.
Frank Sharry serves as Executive Director of América’s Voice.
© 2010 América’s Voice