Insights on Immigration Reform Issue.

With immigration reform still a hot-button issue, LatinoEyes commissioned a study on the heavily debated issue to uncover the opinions of Latinos and non-Latinos alike and the factors shaping their strongly held convictions and perspectives. Designed to provide a unique cross-cultural and cross-generational view, the study also taps into teens (Latino and non-Latino) and underscores the differences – and similarities – between the three divergent segments.

The study shows that the U.S. Latino community mirrors the non-Latino population in terms of how closely they follow politics and the importance they assign to different political issues. However, according to the LatinoEyes study, Latinos place a higher value on moral, family and basic human rights issues than non-Latinos. As a result, Latinos tend to use this moralistic frame of reference when discussing immigration reform while their non-Latino counterparts tend to see the issue through a more legalist point of view.

The study reinforces the belief that Latinos are much more sympathetic with the immigration cause – due to how intimately it impacts their lives and the lives of friends and family – and are in favor of reform which, ultimately, would allow illegal immigrants to stay.

The study also explored the effect that acculturation has among Hispanics. Interestingly, as Latinos acculturate (integrate their Hispanic roots with American culture) their perspective about different issues also tend to move toward the perspective of the general population, while keeping connections to their cultural background.

“Other surveys on the issue focus solely on the Latino adult perspective, providing a myopic view,” says Angelina Villarreal, vice president, C&R Research. “Our broader audience comparison approach offers insights from the eyes of multiple population segments, providing a well-rounded understanding of the issue that more accurately reflects the population.”

Other study highlights include:

Illegal immigrants… Four out of 10 Latinos say they know for certain that some immigrants they know personally – in most cases close friends or relatives – are here illegally. Another 17 percent suspect they are, but don’t know for sure. Conversely, just over one out of 10 of non-Latinos suspect that some of the immigrants they know are here in the U.S. illegally, however almost half of non-Latinos report they don’t know any recent immigrants.

– Top priorities… When asked which political issues are important to them, Latinos and non-Latinos tend to identify the same issues. Latinos cite education (91 percent), healthcare (89 percent), crime and terrorism (85 percent each) and homeland security (82 percent). Non-Latinos say terrorism (87 percent), healthcare (85 percent), homeland security (85 percent) and education (83 percent).

– More priorities… Latinos tend to place more importance than non-Latinos on family values (82 percent versus 65 percent respectively), women’s rights (78 percent versus 63 percent), social issues (72 percent versus 60 percent), gangs (75 percent versus 63 percent) and immigration reform (78 percent versus 68 percent).

– Understanding culture… Non-Latinos and teens think it is somewhat important (32 percent each) that politicians are familiar with the culture and values of immigrant communities. Not surprisingly, Latinos think it is extremely important (40 percent). When asked specifically about understanding the Hispanic culture and values responses were similar. Non-Latinos and teens both said somewhat important (37 percent and 38 percent respectively) while Latinos said extremely important (42 percent).

– Role of religion and morality… According to 40 percent of teens and 38 percent of Latinos, religion is a very important part of their lives.

– Big brother… Teens and Latinos are least likely to think the government is getting too involved in morality issues. More than half of non-Latino adults think the government is too involved (58 percent) versus only 40 percent of Latino adults and 36 percent of teens.

– Experience necessary… Non-Latinos lack immigrant experience. In fact, more than two-thirds of non-Latinos report generational roots in the U.S. from before their grandparents’ time – a rate more than four times higher than Latinos.

Rally Reactions

-Difference of opinion… The majority of Latinos (74 percent) think the protests and marches are helping the cause while non-Latinos (59 percent) think they are causing problems.

– Get involved… Only 28 percent of Latinos say they plan to or have participated in an immigration reform rally or protest.

– Awareness factor… Latinos and non-Latinos are equally aware of immigration reform marches and events (87 percent) versus only slightly more than half of teens (58 percent).

– Non-participants… A mere 33 percent of Latinos who heard of the events participated.

– Boycott… Of those who participated, the tool used most often was a boycott followed by activist activities.

– Democratic process… A mere five percent of Latinos put the democratic system to work and contacted their congressman as a result of the marches and activities.

Government Report Card

– What to do… Almost three-quarters of non-Latinos agree with the government’s attempt to stop all further illegal immigration by reinforcing security at the Mexico-U.S. border while a little more than one-third of Latinos agree. Conversely, the vast majority of Latinos (81 percent) say immigrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S. versus just more than half (55 percent) of non-Latinos.

– Guest worker program… More non-Latinos (55 percent) than Latinos (47 percent) have heard about the Guest Worker Program. Of those respondents who have heard of the program, all three groups agree that all immigrants should be required to have a background check prior to entering the program (non-Latinos – 90 percent, Latinos – 72 percent; teens – 86 percent).

Democratic Process

– Politically minded… Both Latinos and non-Latinos say they follow politics extremely closely (42 percent and 40 percent) while teens in general lag behind (16 percent).

– Informed citizens… Not surprisingly, Latinos believe they are extremely informed about the new immigration laws being proposed (49 percent) more often than non-Latinos (34 percent) and teens (19 percent).

– Candidate support… Hispanics are more likely than not to support Hispanic or Latino candidates for political office (67 percent versus only 18 percent of non-Latinos). For non-Latinos, the majority (67 percent) say ethnicity would have no effect.

– Culture blind… Teens (66 percent) say ethnic background would have no effect on their position to support a political candidate.

About the Survey

The LatinoEyes study was conducted online during May 2006. The information obtained is based on 802 interviews among non-Latinos, 806 interviews among Latinos and 863 interviews among teens 18 years old or younger. For the Latino segment the LatinoEyes online panel was used as well as the TeensEyes online panel for conducting interviews among teens.

For more information at http://www.crresearch.com