Economic issues are the leading concern for Latino voters, and significant majorities of them disapprove of the job President Donald Trump is doing heading into the 2026 midterm election, according to a new survey by UnidosUS.
The May 27 report also found two-thirds of Latinos consider the country to be headed in the wrong direction and more than half believe the Trump administration will not respect their civil rights.
“Latinos across the country are suffering the consequences of a disastrous economy and an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, and they blame President Trump and Congressional Republicans for failing to fix them,” UnidosUS President Janet Murguía said. “Latinos have also faced the relentless assault of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign and the violence and terror it has brought to communities.”
Janet Murguía
The spring poll conducted with BSP Research identified cost of living and inflation (60%), jobs and wages (40%), health care (37%) and housing (27%) as the leading issues Latinos will consider at the polls in November.
“Only 15% of Latino voters say they live comfortably. The other 83% are locked in a continuous daily struggle to stay financially afloat — stretched by the cost of food, gas, housing, health care and basic necessities that keep climbing while wages stay flat and Washington stays distracted or takes actions that make matters worse,” the study said.
More than half, at 55%, cited food and basic living expenses as their top economic concern, followed by electricity and gas at 39% and buying or renting housing at 34%.
“Meanwhile in Washington, these worries are not even getting in the room for politicians distracted by ballrooms and slush funds and it’s no wonder voters expect their economic situation to worsen over the next year,” said Eric Rodriguez, senior vice president for policy and advocacy with UnidosUS. “These concerns are kitchen table breaking points, and the reason two-thirds of Latino voters say that national leaders are not focusing enough on improving the economy for people like them.”
Immigration was another top-five issue for Latinos, with 53% supporting paths to citizenship for law-abiding immigrants, 37% demanding due process for detainees and 35% wanting detention facilities to be sanitary and humane. Protecting houses of worship, schools and hospitals from enforcement raids was a concern for 31%.
The poll also found 77% said they would support an amnesty period for undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. many years without criminal activity, a finding that included 86% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans. Even more — 83% — said they would support a program that enables the same category of immigrants to apply for legal status.
Significant numbers of Latinos who are U.S. citizens (44%) expressed worries about being swept up in immigration enforcement actions. Others (32%) said they are afraid of being arrested at work, or of attending court hearings and immigration check-ins (31%). More than 30% said they fear reporting crimes or interacting with police.
“Latino voters especially oppose policies that penalize children; seven in 10 oppose more funding for ICE,” the report states. Large majorities of Latino voters also oppose providing additional funds to Immigration and Customs Enforcement without oversight (72%) and Trump’s executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants (70%),
The findings help explain Trump’s plummeting approval ratings among Latinos, with 67% saying they disapprove of his job performance. The share was identical among Latinos in Arizona and Texas, higher in California at 71%, and lower in Florida with 51%.
The cost of living (44%), immigration enforcement in cities (33%), jobs and wages (26%) and the Iran war (25%) were the main drivers for the president’s disapproval ratings among Latinos.
Three quarters of Latino voters who voted for Donald Trump in 2024 said they stand by their choice, which was down from 82% in April 2025 and from 78% last November. Nearly all, at 95%, who voted for Kamala Harris said they stand by that vote. In fact, 57% of those surveyed said Democrats care more about Latino communities than Republicans (29%).
The figures also explain high shares determined to vote in November, with 41% who said they are “extremely motivated” and 27% who said they are “very motivated” to go to the polls.
“As the fastest-growing and most influential voting demographic in the country, Latinos have clear demands about what our families need and real consequences for the politicians who fail to meet them,” Murguía added.