Why state anti-immigration policies turn-off Latino voters

As far back as July 2007 Latino Decisions reported immigration as a top issue for Latinos (see this post here), and immigration remains a top issue according to the tracking poll currently in the field (see October 2010 post here). Previous posts on this website link Latino turnout and vote choice to the issue of immigration. I’m going to dig into this by way of highlighting state-level immigration policy developments and how this influences the way that Latinos view the government and politics in general. I uncover a clear trend in which the presence of an unwelcoming, or anti-immigrant environment leads directly to greater skepticism of government and less political efficacy – a sense that one has a say in what government does. (Stay tuned, in two weeks I’ll look at some fresh data from the 2010 tracking poll)

Last week Thursday, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced record-breaking immigrant deportation figures for fiscal year 2010. According to a statement released by the DHS (available here), a daily average of 1,080 removals occurred this past year. This figure adds up to the approximately 400,000 individuals that were deported in 2010, more than half who were not listed as convicted criminals.