PoliticselectionsPolls and Surveys
Most Latinos feel worse off under Trump, per Pew survey.
A profound and unsettling shift is occurring within America's second-largest ethnic group, according to a comprehensive new survey from the Pew Research Center that reveals historic levels of pessimism among Latinos regarding their place in the United States under the second-term policies of President Trump. The data, collected from 4,923 Latino adults in October 2025, paints a stark portrait of a community feeling increasingly alienated and economically strained, marking some of the bleakest assessments in nearly two decades of Pew's tracking.This sentiment is not an isolated data point; it is corroborated by a separate Axios-Ipsos poll released this month, suggesting a deep and widespread disillusionment that transcends mere partisan fluctuation. The core of this disillusionment appears to be a direct response to the administration's aggressive stance on immigration and its perceived impact on the economy, with around 68% of Latinos surveyed believing the situation for Hispanics has worsened in the past year—the largest share ever recorded by Pew.This statistic alone should sound alarm bells, reminiscent of the kind of societal fractures that political historians often identify in retrospect. The numbers delve deeper into the daily realities of this community: about half report struggling to afford basic necessities like food, housing, or medical care, while roughly a third have had to borrow money from family or friends.Furthermore, the psychological toll of immigration enforcement is palpable, with 59% of Latino adults reporting they have seen or heard immigration raids in their community within the last six months, and a staggering 32% have contemplated leaving the country, primarily citing the political climate. This is a remarkable detail, evoking parallels to historical moments when specific populations felt compelled to consider exile.The political schism within the Latino community itself is equally telling and analytically rich. While Latino Republicans express growing economic optimism, they have simultaneously grown more critical of Trump's deportation initiatives, indicating a complex and potentially fractured coalition.In contrast, Latino Democrats are overwhelmingly negative across all measures, creating a political dynamic where the GOP is now, as the report concludes, 'severely behind' with a demographic bloc that holds the key to the balance of power in crucial states like Texas, Arizona, and California heading into the 2026 midterms. The strategic implications are immense; the Pew study suggests that the historic gains Republicans made with Latino voters in the 2024 election, where Trump came within striking distance of capturing a majority, have been all but erased within a single year.This rapid erosion of support is a political phenomenon that will be studied for cycles to come, highlighting the volatile nature of modern electoral coalitions. The report's methodology, with its margin of error of ±2. 6 percentage points, provides a robust and reliable foundation for these sobering conclusions, offering a data-driven snapshot of a community at a crossroads, whose sense of belonging and economic stability is being fundamentally reshaped by the current political landscape.
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