What both parties don't get about Hispanics

“And Hispanics express lukewarm feelings about the Democratic Party. Only 27 percent think the Democratic Party cares a lot about the issues and concerns of Hispanics,” she wrote. “This and their lack of identification as self-described Democrats suggest that Hispanic attachment to the Democratic Party is shallow rather than deep.”

There’s more to worry Democrats in the report, including a “potential flashpoint” over religion. “Democrats cannot be complacent and should work to deepen their connections with the Hispanic community beyond immigration,” she wrote. “Hispanics are strivers – entrepreneurs and small business owners. And Democrats have not been able to attract as much support from small business owners as the rest of the population.”

The trends, of course, are far worse for Republicans. Diggles spells them out. About 17 percent of Hispanics are undocumented immigrants, according to her analysis, a number that has fallen sharply in recent years. “Despite the lower levels of undocumented immigrants among the Hispanic community, the anti-Hispanic rhetoric unleashed by Republicans when they speak of immigration impacts the community writ large,” Diggles wrote. “Further, many Hispanics born in the U.S. care deeply about immigration reform, regardless of their citizenship.”