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A Third of Latina/o Young People Care about Immigration, but Fewer See It as a Top Priority for Voting

 In Data Drop, Diversity & Gen Z, Politics

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.

Latina/o and non-Latina/o young people care about many of the same social and political issues
Latina/o young people are more likely than non-Latina/o young people to say they care about immigration / border control

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.

Moderate Latina/o and conservative non-Latina/o young people most likely to say they care about immigration / border control

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.

Voting-aged Latina/o young people place the economy, abortion / reproductive issues, and education at the top of voting priorities

See our latest work on how young people are navigating civic life. Order Cultivating Care and receive our newest insights on how and why young people create and sustain patterns of care in their civic lives, and how adults can support them.

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/

Picture of Dr. Nabil Tueme

Dr. Nabil Tueme

Senior Research Associate

Picture of Dr. Jaclyn Doherty

Dr. Jaclyn Doherty

Research Associate

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