A Third of Latina/o Young People Care about Immigration, but Fewer See It as a Top Priority for Voting
Understanding the electorate increasingly means understanding Latina/o populations—especially Latina/o young people. This is because early projections indicate that Latina/os will make up a record 15% of all eligible voters in November 2024. Eligible voters who are Latina/o also tend to be younger than eligible voters overall—31% of Latina/o eligible voters are between the ages of 18 and 29, compared to 20% of all US eligible voters.¹
Latina/o Young People Are More Likely than Non-Latina/os to Care about Immigration
While Latina/o and non-Latina/o young people care about many of the same social issues, Latina/o young people are more likely than their non-Latina/o counterparts to say they care about immigration. A third (34%) of young Latina/os say they care about immigration / border control compared to 25% of young non-Latina/os.
Moderate Latina/o Young People and Conservative Non-Latina/os Are Most Likely to Care about Immigration
Among Latina/o young people, moderate Latina/os are the most likely group of Latina/os to say they care about immigration / border control. Forty-one percent of politically moderate young Latina/os reportedly care about immigration compared to a quarter (26%) of conservative Latina/os and a third (35%) of liberal Latina/os.
By contrast, conservative non-Latina/o young people are the most likely group of non-Latina/os to say they care about immigration / border control. Thirty-eight percent of politically conservative non-Latina/o young people reportedly care about immigration compared to a quarter (25%) of liberal non-Latina/os and under a quarter (23%) of moderate non-Latina/os.
Few Voting-Aged Latina/os Say Immigration Is a Voting Priority
While Latina/os are more likely than non-Latina/os to say they care about immigration / border control, just 14% of voting-aged Latina/os place immigration / border control as one of the top three most important issues to consider when voting. Instead, Latina/os between the ages of 18 and 25 place the economy (31%), abortion / reproductive issues (30%), and education (20%) as the top three most important issues to consider for voting.
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Note: See question wording and survey responses in the topline survey results and review methodology here.
¹Jens Manuel Krogstad et al., “Key facts about Hispanic eligible voters in 2024,” Pew Research Center, January 10, 2024, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/10/key-facts-about-hispanic-eligible-voters-in-2024/
