Mass Deportations and the Future of Latino Partisanship

Abstract

Objective. The U.S. government continues to deport large numbers of undocumented Latino immigrants. We address the likely effects of these policies on Latino partisanship. Methods. We use a survey experiment to test the effects of information about mass deportations on partisan evaluations among young second-generation Latinos. Results. Young U.S.-born Latinos view the Democratic Party as less welcoming when informed that deportations have been higher under President Obama than under his predecessor. Because most young U.S.-born Latinos are either weak partisans or political independents, there is wide scope for information effects among these potential voters. Conclusion. Mass deportation policies have the potential to reshape the partisanship and politics of Latinos for years to come.

Party System Polarization, Citizenship, and Immigrant Party Allegiances in Western Europe

“…Moreover, the results show that the relevant policy dimension for measuring polarization is immigration control, rather than the left-right continuum. 12 These findings are in line with previous studies showing that immigration control is of central importance in shaping immigrants' political orientations (Pantoja, Ramirez, and Segura 2001;Bowler, Nicholson, and Segura 2006;Street Abrajano and Alvarez 2010;Schildkraut 2013;Collingwood, Barreto, and Garcia-Rios 2014;, Zepeda-Millán, and Jones-Correa 2015) and that this policy dimension does not easily align with the left-right divide (Junn and Masuoka 2007;Hajnal and Lee 2011).…”

“…In a study of Latino immigrants in the United States based on focus groups, Schildkraut (2013) found that when thinking about democracy in their adopted homeland, foreign-born residents consistently invoked their identity and experiences as immigrants rather than as members of their national-origin group or ethnic minorities, and did so even when questions made no mention of immigration (35-37). Moreover, many first-generation immigrants noted that they cared greatly whether their representatives paid attention to immigrants' needs and policy preferences and that these policies were not generic, such as education, crime, or the economy, but immigration specific, such as amnesty and deportation (Schildkraut 2013, 38; see also Pantoja, Ramirez, and Segura 2001;Bowler, Nicholson, and Segura 2006;Abrajano and Alvarez 2010, 37;Collingwood, Barreto, and Garcia-Rios 2014;Street, Zepeda-Millán, and Jones-Correa 2015).…”

“…International Migration Review XX(X) heuristic in making sense of a country's governance. Scholars have therefore been increasingly interested in how foreign-born residents develop party allegiances in their adopted homeland (Alvarez and García Bedolla 2003;Dancygier and Saunders 2006;Abrajano and Alvarez 2010;Hajnal and Lee 2011;Street, Zepeda-Millán, and Jones-Correa 2015;Huddy, Mason, and Horwitz 2016;McCann and Nishikawa Chávez 2016). While high levels of non-partisanship among new arrivals are usually attributed to immigrants' limited familiarity with their host country's politics (Hajnal and Lee 2011), existing research has paid little attention to what may mitigate this information barrier and thereby enhance partisanship acquisition among foreign-born residents.…”

Red to Purple? Changing Demographics and Party Change in Texas

“…The three largest historically underrepresented groups in Texas are Latinos, African Americans, and Asian Americans. While many Latinos have traditionally identified as Democrats than Republicans (with the exception of Cuban Americans), there are still questions about whether Latinos will continue identifying as Democrats (Street et al 2015). Street, Zepeda-Millán, and Jones-Correa investigated the impact of deportations during the Obama administration had on young US -born Latinos.…”

Immigration Status, Immigrant Family Ties, and Support for the Democratic Party

“…Pro‐immigrant Republicans such as Jeb Bush make this argument (Bush and Bolick, ), as do Latino advocacy groups such as Latino Decisions (Barreto, ). There is also evidence that Latinos view the Democratic Party less favorably when that party is associated with restrictionist policies (Street, Zepeda‐Millán, and Jones‐Correa, ).…”