Hispanic voters rank economic well-being and health care as their top issues heading into the 2020 presidential election, while the issue of immigration is among one of their least pressing issues, a survey shows.
The latest Pew Research Center survey finds that 80 percent of Hispanic voters see the economy as their top issue going into the 2020 election, while 76 percent rank health care as their second most important issue.
The Chinese coronavirus crisis ranks as the third most important issue to Hispanic voters this election cycle, with 72 percent saying it is “very important” to their vote.
Among the least pressing issues to Hispanic voters are abortion, foreign policy, economic inequality, gun policy, and immigration. Less than 6-in-10 and, on some issues, less than 5-in-10 Hispanic voters said these issues were “very important” to their vote in November.
The survey debunks the widely held claim by the Republican and Democrat political establishments that national immigration policy sets the tone for Hispanic voters — many of whom are first, second, and third-generation Americans.
An infamous Republican National Committee (RNC) report following the 2012 election claimed that the only path to victory for the GOP was amnesty for 11 million to 22 million illegal aliens. In 2016, President Trump quashed the claim by winning on the most pro-immigration enforcement platform in recent history.
In the last few years, when Hispanic voters are polled on immigration issues, the majority tend to side with Trump’s pro-enforcement record that seeks to reduce foreign competition in the labor market.
Last year, for instance, Hispanic voters in the swing state of Florida said by a 74 percent majority that they support statewide, mandatory E-Verify to ban employers from hiring illegal aliens. In April, a survey by the Washington Post revealed that Hispanic Americans were the most supportive of any racial group of temporarily halting all immigration during the coronavirus crisis.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.