U.S. Immigrant Population Continues to Grow

According to Pew Research Center, the immigrant population in the United States was 40.4 million, a record high for the country.  In 2011, the 13% of immigrants living in the United States was slightly lower than the nation's peak at 15%, which occurred between 1890 and 1920.  The 40.4 million immigrants in the United States are distinctly comprised of Latin Americans (50%) and Asians (27%), as opposed to the influx of European immigrants in the period between 1890 and 1920.

The population of unauthorized immigrants, a segment of the 40.4 million immigrants in the United States, were down slightly since 2007, from 12 million to 11.1 in 2011.  Highlighting other trends relating to unauthorized immigration, Pew links to further analysis in other articles, which can be found here.

Strong Latino Vote for Obama

In an analysis of exit polls conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, Barack Obama carried 71% of the Latino vote in Tuesday’s election.  While Democratic candidates have long held an advantage with the Latino electorate, Obama had the second highest advantage with 44% more Latino votes than Mitt Romney.  Bill Clinton takes top billing with the highest advantage among Latinos in 1996 (51%), while the Democratic candidate with the lowest advantage was John Kerry in 2004 (18%).

In addition, the 2012 Presidential race shows more Hispanic support for Obama than 2008, up eight points since the 2008 election.  Also of note, the Hispanic electorate is growing (Latinos made up 8% of the population in 2008, 10% in 2012), making them a salient group of voters in the battleground states of Florida, Nevada and Colorado.  In each of these states, Latino voters comprised more of the voting population than in 2008, up one point in Colorado, two points in Arizona, and three points in Florida.

Other interesting trends within the Latino population show that Hispanic women favored Obama as compared to men (76% to 65%); younger Hispanics were more inclined than older Latinos to vote for Obama (18-29 at 74%, 65+ at 65%); Hispanics will no college degree voted Democrat more than college graduates (75% to 62%); those who made less than $50,000 a favored Democrats more than those who earned above $50,000 (82% to 59%).

Record-High Latino Voter Registration, but Latino Voter Turnout Trends Low

The Pew Hispanic Center has recently released a report detailing the current registration of Latino voters for the upcoming presidential election, revealing an all-time high of nearly 24 million Latino voters registered to vote.  These 23.7 million registered Latino voters are up 22% since 2008; this aligns with the fact that Latino voters now comprise 11% of the nation's available voters, up from 9.5% in 2008.

Despite the high number of Latino registered voters, the registered Latinos are much less likely to show up at the polls than registered whites and blacks.  Half of the Latino voters who were registered in 2008 voted, while 65% and 66% of registered whites and blacks voted, respectively.  Additionally, 55% of Hispanics are ineligible to vote (for example, not U.S. citizens or too young to vote) while only 31% of blacks and 21% of whites are ineligible.

The disparity between eligible Latino voters and continued low turnout has caused quite a stir within the media.  In a piece analyzing this occurrence, Ed Pilkington of The Guardian states that "the statistics spell enormous potential rewards for any politician or political party who manages to release the Latino genie from the bottle."

Almost Half of Hispanic Population Concentrated in Ten Metropolitan Areas

Coinciding with National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Pew Hispanic Center released a report detailing the characteristics of 60 of the largest metropolitan areas by Hispanic population.  Using the 2010 American Community Survey, the report found that 45% of the Hispanic population in the United States is concentrated in just 10 metropolitan areas.  The 5.7 million Hispanics in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area account for more than 1 in every 10 Hispanics in the United States, with the New York-Northeastern New Jersey population containing 8% of the nation's Hispanic Population. 

The report goes on to say that in Miami and San Antonio, Hispanics make up over half of the population, and that the same is the case in eleven more of the sixty largest metropolitan areas by Hispanic population.  Included in the report is a breakdown of population by Hispanic origin group, with the largest origin group being Mexican-Americans at 65%.  The full report, as well as an interactive map, can be found here.

Obama Loses Latino Approval with Rise in Deportations

The majority of Latinos in the United States oppose the way in which the Obama administration is addressing the deportation of illegal immigrants, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center.   

Since 2009, under President Obama, deportations have increased to an annual average of 400,000.  This represents a 30% increase in annual average of deportations since the second term of the Bush administration and is almost double the annual average of deportations during the first term of the Bush administration. 

A vast majority (81%) of the 11.2 million immigrants in the United States without authorization are of Hispanic origin.  Individuals of Hispanic origin constitute an even larger percentage of deported unauthorized immigrants, with 97% of those deported in 2010 identifying as having Hispanic origin. 

Not all Latinos are cognizant of the increase in deportations during Obama's presidency.  A little over a third of Latinos polled (36%) responded that the Bush administration deported about the same number of immigrants as the Obama administration deports currently.  Fewer than half of the Latinos polled reported knowledge of the increase in deportations under the Obama administration; 41% claimed that deportations had increased during Obama's presidency.

Foreign-born Hispanics are much more likely than native-born Hispanics to be aware of the increase in deportations since Obama assumed office.  Whereas 55% of foreign-born Hispanics were aware of this trend, only 25% of native-born Hispanics were.  Awareness of the increase in deportations is most prevalent among Hispanic individuals who have greater chances of being deported.  Almost three-quarters of Hispanic immigrants who do not have United States citizenship or a green card, a population with a high risk of being deported, are aware that deportations have increased under the Obama administration.

Those who disapprove of Obama's policy are likely to be those who are aware that deportations have increased under the Obama administration.