Many Immigrants, Including Naturalized Citizens, Don’t Feel Well-Represented by Either Political Party, Though More Align with Democrats than Republicans

Immigrants, including those who are naturalized citizens, are more likely to align with the Democratic party and its positions on immigration issues than they are with the Republican party and its positions, though many say that neither party represents their views, the KFF-Los Angeles Times Survey of Immigrants reveals.

A new report based on the KFF-Los Angeles Times partnership survey explores the diverse views of immigrants on the politics and policies surrounding immigration law – a polarizing political issue that rarely includes the views of immigrants themselves, most of whom are naturalized U.S. citizens eligible to vote in elections. The Los Angeles Times features the survey data as part of its ongoing “Immigrant Dreams” project, including a column focused on politics.

Immigrants overall are twice as likely to say that the Democratic Party (32%) represents their political views better than the Republican Party (16%). The gap is similar among naturalized citizens (37% say the Democratic Party, 21% say the Republican party). Immigrants, including naturalized citizens, also much more likely to say to immigrants as a group have fared better under President Biden than under President Trump.

Immigrants overall are twice as likely to say that the Democratic Party (32%) represents their political views better than the Republican Party (16%). The gap is similar among naturalized citizens (37% say the Democratic Party, 21% say the Republican party). Immigrants, including naturalized citizens, also much more likely to say to immigrants as a group have fared better under President Biden than under President Trump. 

Still, large shares don’t lean towards either party on these questions. One quarter say neither party represents their personal political views and a similar share (27%) say they’re not sure, and about half (47%) say that when it comes to lives of immigrants, it makes no difference who the president is.

“Like many Americans, many immigrants don’t see politics as dramatically changing their lives,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman said. “Those that do favor Democrats and Biden about two to one. But there is no immigrant vote; there are many immigrant groups and many immigrant votes state by state.” 

Among the survey’s other findings:

• Support for the DREAM Act. Similar to people born in the United States, a large majority of immigrants (79%) say that it is a “good idea” to allows undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to apply for citizenship – a policy known as the DREAM Act which Congress has considered in various forms over the past two decades. This includes at least three quarters of naturalized citizens, green-card or visa holders, and immigrants who are likely undocumented.
• Health coverage for undocumented immigrants. Most immigrants say that allowing undocumented immigrants to sign up for government health insurance is a good idea (59%), though naturalized citizens are divided, with nearly equal shares saying the idea is “good” and “bad” (49% and 48%, respectively). Among people born in the United States, a large majority (69%) say such coverage is a “bad idea.”
• Enforcement of immigration laws. Immigrants hold mixed views on the nation’s enforcement of its immigration laws, with nearly one in five saying enforcement is “too tough” (19%) and a similar share saying it is “not tough enough.” Naturalized citizens are more likely to say that enforcement is not tough enough, while those who are likely undocumented or hold green cards or visas are more likely to say that enforcement is “too tough.” 

The largest nationally representative survey of immigrants, the KFF-Los Angeles Times Survey of Immigrants is a probability-based survey of 3,358 immigrant adults (people ages 18 and over living in the U.S. who were born outside the U.S. and its territories) conducted between April 10-June 12, 2023. Respondents were contacted via mail or telephone; had the choice to complete the survey in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Haitian-Creole, Arabic, French, or Tagalog; and responded either online, via telephone, or on a paper questionnaire. SSRS managed sampling, data collection, weighting, and tabulation for the project. Teams from KFF and the Los Angeles Times worked together to develop the questionnaire and analyze the data. Each organization is solely responsible for its content. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2 percentage points for results based on the full sample.