Immigrant Latino Voters and the 2020 U.S. Election

By Stephen Nuño-Perez and Adrian D. Pantoja
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The 2020 presidential election is a milestone for Latinos as they have become the largest ethnic or racial minority group in the electorate. Among the 32 million eligible voters, 23% or 7.5 million are immigrants. This figure may not surprise readers since Latinos are frequently equated with immigrants and immigration issues. Although most Latino voters are US-born citizens, foreign born Latino voters have been important in shaping political outcomes from California to New York and they will be pivotal in 2020. In an effort to understand the diversity of the Latino electorate, our focus here is on the political attitudes and behaviors of Latino foreign-born voters in this presidential contest.

Report co-author Dr Stephen Nuño-Perez commented with regard to the brief, ‘Democracy thrives when the diversity of our experiences are heard and acted upon by our governments. This year, immigrant Latinos have their opportunity to reflect on the last four years and makes their voices heard.’ Fellow co-author Dr Adrian D. Pantoja remarked, ‘In the 2020 election, millions of foreign-born Latino voters have the opportunity to respond through the ballot box.’

For media outreach about the brief, please contact: immigrationinitiative@harvard.edu