Politics
Union-led survey finds 3 in 4 working-class Miami Latinos squeezed by costs, sour on immigration enforcement
Two South Florida unions knocked on more than 31,000 Miami doors this Spring and came away with a portrait of working-class Latinos who are losing ground on rent, groceries and gas while souring on federal immigration enforcement.
The groups, UNITE HERE Local 355 and SEIU 32BJ, collated their findings in a recent report, drawing from 2,730 doorstep conversations and 2,381 completed surveys in Latino neighborhoods March 21-June 27.
Their findings revealed a starkly negative outlook among a group that has accounted for more than half of the total U.S. population growth this century and portends potential Midterm trouble for Republicans, who hold the presidency and control both legislative chambers at the state and federal levels.
More than three-quarters of respondents, 77%, believe national economic conditions are deteriorating. Just 5% said it’s getting better.
Asked to rate household expenses on a 1-to-5 difficulty scale, with 5 being most difficult, respondents cited gas and transportation most often at 5 (88%), followed by food (85%), housing and utilities (78%), health insurance and medical bills (67%), and child and elder care (53%).
“The first thing we heard on the doors was how high prices have become in Miami, including increases in rent,” Flor Ramirez, a Local 355 member and Miami International Airport worker, said in the report. “People mentioned how they used to be able to fill shopping carts at the grocery store and now they are barely able to purchase enough to survive week to week.”
Policy questions revealed a near-consensus on healthcare and lopsided support for renter protections. Ninety-eight percent of respondents believe in shielding Medicare and Medicaid from cuts, while 82% support capping how much landlords can raise rent — a policy Florida law now prohibits local governments from imposing.
Meanwhile, two-thirds of Latino Miamians (67%) favor higher taxes on millionaires, while another 17% said they would “maybe” support such a policy.
On immigration, 78% of respondents rated the issue a 5 out of 5 in importance. Handed a list to describe their reaction to current enforcement, 58% chose “disappointed,” while 20% said “angry” best fits their feelings on the issue.
Only 4% chose “happy,” the same share as those who said they feel “scared” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdowns, while another 14% remain uncertain.
Canvassers added a question in May about a provision in the proposed Dignity Act, an immigration overhaul bill sponsored by Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar, that would require participants to pay $7,000 in restitution over seven years for work authorization and deportation protection, but with no path to permanent residency or citizenship.
Eighty-one percent said they opposed it.
Martha Cabrera, a Local 355 member, said in the report that Cuban voters “feel betrayed with what they are seeing happen with immigration enforcement right now.”
“(So) many have family members who came to Miami legally on humanitarian parole who have now lost their status and don’t know what to do and feel like they are being treated like criminals,” she said.
“They never imagined the United States would be this way — they came here looking for the American Dream, for liberty. This in addition to so many older Cuban voters who have recently had cuts to their SNAP benefits and now barely have enough money to purchase food and their medicine.”
The report concluded with four recommendations for policymakers: broaden temporary protected status and legal pathways to citizenship or permanent residency, reduce housing and utility costs while raising the minimum wage, widen healthcare access, and shore up the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other support for children and seniors.
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