Contrary to conventional wisdom, this realignment of priorities actually better reflects the views of Hispanics themselves. A major new 2020 post-mortem released by the Democratic polling firm Equis Research helps explain some of the rightward shift among Latino voters: According to Equis, 55 percent of Latinos who voted in the 2020 election favor more spending on border security (polled separately from building a wall, which only 39 percent favored), 51 percent support limiting refugees and asylum-seekers, and 49 percent are for reducing the rate of legal immigration. Even among members of the demographic who self-identify as “liberal,” support for limiting refugees and asylum and reducing legal immigration is in the high 40s, and more border spending enjoys majority support. At the same time, corporate tax cuts — one of the core tenets of the Paul Ryan–era GOP platform — musters only 41 percent of support overall.
To be sure, in a moment when inflation and high gas prices are a significant cause of dissatisfaction with Democrats, aspects of the more traditional Republican economic program have a role to play. In contrast to the relative unpopularity of corporate tax cuts, the Equis report showed middle-class tax cuts and reopening the economy enjoy heavy Hispanic support, polling at 69 and 66 percent, respectively. And Republican attacks on socialism resonated with many Hispanics, particularly those who had fled socialist regimes in countries such as Venezuela and Cuba; 42 percent of Hispanics said they were concerned about “Democrats embracing socialism/leftist policies,” as opposed to 38 percent expressing concern about “Republicans embracing fascist/anti-democratic policies.” This demographic — what Equis’s pollsters aptly dubbed “the American Dream voter” — is clearly sympathetic to parts of the Reaganite message, and long-standing free-market principles can be adapted to expand the party’s appeal with Hispanics.
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