WASHINGTON – When Stanford University political science professor Gary M. Segura first started tracking Latino voter support for President Barack Obama in November 2010, it hovered around 60 percent.
But in a new poll released by Latino Decisions—an opinion research firm co-founded by Segura—Latino voter support for Obama has reached a record high of 70 percent.
Citing the record number of deportations that have taken place under the Obama administration, Segura described the recent surge in support for Obama among Latino voters as being a case of choosing between the “frying pan and the fire.”
The surge follows the Obama administration’s June 15 “Dream” announcement that eased immigration enforcement action against undocumented students. The Latino Decisions poll was conducted 7-16 July.
“Latinos were certainly not happy with the high level of deportations,” Segura said Thursday in an interview with Diverse following remarks he made at a Center for American Progress panel discussion about the Latino vote in 2012.
“They recognize that there was some pandering that took place with the administration’s relief with the Dream situation,” Segura said of the Obama administration’s June 15 “Dream” announcement, questioned by some as being a political tactic to win a second term in office.
The action—taken by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—provides certain young people brought to the United States as young children the opportunity to seek relief from removal if they meet certain criteria, such as being in school, graduating from high school and not being convicted of a felony.
