Rising costs, immigration enforcement, and civil rights concerns shaped voters’ choices. The findings show what immigrant families expect from their elected leaders.
Magazine, The Immigrant Experience
For families worried about rent, groceries, or whether a loved one will come home safely, an election victory offers little comfort without action.
The message from ethnic voters in the 2026 midterms was that their support must be earned. Neither party can assume families will keep voting for candidates who fail to address what they are living through.
At a November 6 American Community Media briefing, researchers and civil rights leaders examined what Asian American, Black, Latino, and Native American voters said through their choices. Across these communities, rising costs, immigration enforcement, and threats to civil rights helped shape their decisions.
For immigrant families, these concerns are connected. Paying the bills, keeping a family together, and being treated fairly all affect whether we can build a stable life here.
Journalist Pilar Marrero moderated the discussion, which drew on the 2026 Midterm Election Voter Poll, conducted by the African American Research Collaborative and BSP Research with more than 10,000 voters. The findings help explain voters’ priorities; they do not establish overall turnout.
Families need relief
Only 15% of Latino respondents described themselves as financially comfortable, according to Clarissa Martínez De Castro, vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative at UnidosUS. Most were barely staying afloat or struggling.
She described 80% of Latino voters as working class—a population too often overlooked when politicians discuss the needs of working Americans. Their requests have remained consistent across election cycles: lower costs and strengthen wages.
Black voters expressed similar priorities. Henry Fernandez, chief executive officer of the African American Research Collaborative, reported that 60% ranked inflation and the cost of living among their three leading issues. Jobs, affordable housing, health care costs, and gasoline prices followed. Groceries were their biggest concern among specific household expenses.
Cost of living also led concerns among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander voters, said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC).
Among Native American respondents, 55% placed inflation and the cost of living among their three leading national concerns. About one-third were struggling to make ends meet or experiencing major financial difficulties.
Annalise Guthrie, senior research officer for research and advocacy at First Nations Development Institute, explained what those pressures mean: whether families can remain in their communities, support their children, and care for elders.
Voters will judge economic promises against those everyday responsibilities.
Neither party owns these votes
Martínez De Castro cautioned Democrats against confusing Latino voters’ rejection of current policies with renewed trust in their party.
About 38% of Latino voters entered the election as part of a movable middle, including independents, undecided voters, and people who had crossed party lines or supported a third party in 2024. About 17% of Latino respondents were voting in a November general election for the first time.
Fernandez reported that Black respondents supported Democratic House candidates by 85% to 13%. But he also found movement among people who had previously supported President Donald Trump: 35% of Black respondents who said they voted for Trump in 2024 reported choosing Democratic House candidates in 2026.
Yang described Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander voters as responsive to outreach and policy. Roughly one-third had first voted in 2022 or later. Their reported support for Democrats by about two to one followed a shift toward Republicans in 2024.
A voter’s choice in one election does not settle the next. Candidates have to keep listening and give people a reason to support them again.
Forty-nine percent of Native respondents said no party, campaign, or organization had contacted them about registering or voting. Among Latino respondents, 38% reported no contact; an improvement over earlier surveys, but still a substantial gap.
Candidates cannot expect communities to feel represented when they rarely hear from them.
Immigration is about our families
Economic concerns did not push immigration aside.
Martínez De Castro reported support for an orderly immigration system that includes legalization and border security without abusive enforcement. Yang said nearly nine in ten Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander voters supported changes that protect families and provide a pathway to citizenship for people who have built lives here.
Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center, presented findings showing support for language access, immigration reform, and due process.
Voters were also open to considering proposals that would allow immigrants to remain in their communities while their cases proceed and ensure a fair hearing before a judge. Matos distinguished willingness to consider those changes from endorsement of a final legislative plan.
She then shared a separate survey conducted with BSP Research between mid-June and mid-August. It included naturalized citizens and noncitizen immigrants, with a little over 1,000 respondents in each of three groups: Latino, Black, and Asian immigrants.
Fifty-one percent of Latino immigrants and 46% of Black immigrants worried that a family member or close friend could be deported. About one-third of Black and Latino immigrants feared they themselves could be detained or deported, regardless of their status.
Fear also affected their willingness to speak publicly. Fifty-three percent of Latino immigrants and 45% of Black immigrants felt it was unsafe for people like them to stand up publicly for immigrant rights.
For families living with that worry, immigration policy affects their ability to work, care for one another, and plan beyond the next day.
Yet majorities across all three immigrant groups believed encouraging eligible people to vote was the best way to build support for immigrants. Even those unable to cast a federal ballot saw a way to help their communities participate.
Protecting rights and respecting communities
Fernandez reported that 82% of Black voters supported a new Voting Rights Act, while 73% worried that voting rights were under attack.
Yang said about 80% of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander voters supported a new Voting Rights Act. Roughly two-thirds worried that hate and discrimination against their communities had become more acceptable.
“Protect our vote, respect our families, and stand against hate,” he said.
For Native voters, accountability also includes the federal government’s responsibilities to sovereign tribal nations.
Guthrie reported that 89% considered a candidate’s positions on tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, and federal responsibilities important when deciding whom to support. Land protection, water rights, economic investment, and the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people were among the concerns she identified.
Native peoples have distinct rights and a political relationship with the federal government that must be respected. Guthrie emphasized that communities already have leadership and solutions. Federal policy should support their ability to determine their future.
The work continues after Election Day
Fernandez reminded reporters that election results reflect years of organizing, relationship building, and persistence through earlier losses. That work continues after candidates win.
Martínez De Castro warned Democrats against wasting their opportunity on internal party fights while families wait for help. Yang urged practical solutions and continued listening. Guthrie called for commitments to be honored.
For immigrant families, the questions are straightforward. Can we afford our homes? Can we care for our children and elders? Will our families be safe? Can we speak up without fear?
Both parties have been warned: families will judge them by what they do. Those elected now have a responsibility to follow through. Our communities have every reason to keep asking, keep organizing, and hold them to their word.
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