Firm, Fair and Free of Cruelty Part 4: Assessing the Shifting Immigration Policy Priorities in UnidosUS’s 2023 and 2024 Latino Voter Polls

UnidosUS published three polls between November 2023 and September 2024 that used the same prompt¹ to track Latino voters’ immigration policy preferences during a period where migration to the U.S.-Mexico border emerged as a key issue for the U.S. electorate. 

Although the November 2023 National Survey of Latino Voters showed voters prioritized relief for the undocumented and receiving asylum seekers, a June 2024 border policy poll and a September 2024 Pre-Election Poll found they prioritized certain border security measures and relief.  

However, hardline measures like mass deportations and finishing the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border were low priorities for the polls’ respondents, suggesting Latino voters’ desire for a border policy approach that’s firm, fair and free of cruelty extends to U.S. immigration policy. 

UnidosUS’s Polls Show Border Security Measures Emerged as Key Policy Priorities for Latino Voters 

The three polls found that tackling down on human smugglers emerged as one of the defining priorities for Latino voters between November 2023 and August 2024 even as respondents continued to prioritize relief for the undocumented, especially Dreamers. 

UnidosUS’s November 2023 National Survey of Latino Voters, which surveyed 3,037 Latino eligible voters,² found respondents overwhelmingly prioritized citizenship for individuals brought to the United States as children and long-residing undocumented immigrants (Figure 1). The respondents also prioritized providing asylum to immigrants fleeing violence or war and increasing legal immigration over increasing border security. 

Figure 1: Immigration Policy Priorities from November 2023 National Survey of Latino Voters 

This position shifted in the June 2024 border policy poll, which surveyed 800 registered voters.³ Like the November 2023 poll, respondents prioritized both pathway to citizenship options, ranking relief for long-residing undocumented individuals first in this case (Figure 2). 

Figure 2: Immigration Policy Priorities from June 2024 Border Policy Poll 

However, cracking down on human smugglers, which the poll added so respondents had more border security-related options,⁴ and increasing border security rounded out the top four options, with increasing legal immigration and providing asylum dropping to fifth and sixth. 

This trend partially changed in September 2024 poll, which surveyed 3,000 eligible voters.⁵ While respondents cited relief for Dreamers as their top immigration priority, they prioritized cracking down on human smugglers and drug traffickers as their second priority (Figure 3).  

Figure 3: Immigration Policy Priorities from September 2024 Pre-Election Poll 

Providing citizenship to the long-residing undocumented and protecting undocumented individuals who have lived in the US for a long-time from deportation⁶ came ahead of increasing border security. However, increasing border security continued to rank ahead of increasing legal immigration and providing asylum to individuals fleeing war. 

Support for Firm Border Measures Does Not Translate to Support for Hardline Measures 

These trends suggest why Latinos would support an immigration policy that’s firm and fair. As all three polls demonstrate, giving long-residing undocumented individuals a fair shot at citizenship remains the defining policy priority for Latino voters. Firmer measures like tackling illicit actors operating at the border and, to a lesser extent, increasing border security, emerged as a cornerstone of the measures they want policymakers to adopt in U.S. immigration policy. 

The prioritization of firm border security measures in the last two polls does not translate to support for hardline measures, however. Finishing the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and deporting all undocumented immigrants⁷ were among the lowest ranking options for all three polls. At a time when mass deportations have emerged in the public discourse as a purported fix to addressing the country’s immigration challenges, UnidosUS’s work suggests that Latinos do not prioritize needlessly cruel measures in U.S. immigration policy, especially when it comes to the treatment of the undocumented in the country.