In 2024, Donald Trump made historic gains among Latino voters, winning nearly half their vote and helping him return to the White House. Two years later, Latino immigrants have been deported to countries they have never called home, Venezuelan men have been imprisoned in El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison, and immigration enforcement operations have ended in gunfire.
Now, as Americans head to the polls on November 3, a new Pew Research Center survey raises an uncomfortable question: Are Latino voters second-guessing the president they helped return to power?
The numbers suggest growing dissatisfaction. According to an October 16 Pew Research Center report, Democratic congressional candidates lead among Latino registered voters by 27 percentage points, from 51% to 24%. Another 18% remain undecided.
Trump’s approval rating among Latino registered voters has fallen to just 24%, down from 38% in February 2025. Even among Latinos who voted for Trump in 2024, his approval has dropped from 93% at the beginning of his second term to 57%.
Perhaps most tellingly, 70% of Latino registered voters now say his administration’s policies have harmed Hispanics, while 61% believe their situation in America has worsened over the past year.
What changed? For one, the reality of immigration enforcement has moved far beyond campaign slogans.
In March 2025, the administration sent 238 Venezuelan men to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison, alleging gang affiliations. Subsequent reporting revealed that some had pending asylum cases and no final deportation orders, while many had no apparent U.S. criminal records.
Then came the expansion of third-country deportations. CBS News reported that the administration transported more than 100 deportees, including Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, to eight African countries during a 10-day period in 2026. Among them was Aristides Fernandez Garcia, a Cuban man from South Florida who said he was sent to the Central African Republic without knowing his destination.
In October, Dominican immigrant Oscar Belgal was shot by an ICE officer during an attempted arrest in New York, with his five-year-old son inside the vehicle. Federal authorities said Belgal endangered officers; his representatives dispute the government’s account.
These cases do not mean those affected were Trump voters, but they illustrate the enforcement policies confronting Latino immigrant communities and their families — and immigration is not their only concern.
Pew found that the economy remains Latino voters’ top issue. Rising costs, employment concerns, and dissatisfaction with economic conditions are shaping attitudes, along with immigration enforcement.
For many voters, the question may be less about party loyalty than whether the promises made during the 2024 campaign have translated into better lives. Yet, there is an important complication.
Despite declining approval of Trump, 65% of Latino voters who supported him in 2024 still say they favor Republican congressional candidates. Only 11% now support Democrats, while the remainder are undecided or favor another candidate.
Disappointment, apparently, does not automatically produce political realignment. Latino voters are not a monolith, either. Cuban Americans, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Venezuelan Americans, and other communities have different histories, economic priorities, and political experiences.
Democrats also shouldn’t assume that dissatisfaction with Trump guarantees renewed loyalty. The Pew findings show that 55% of Latino registered voters view their congressional vote as a vote against Trump, but voting against a president and embracing an alternative political agenda aren’t necessarily the same.
That’s what makes this Election Day so revealing. In 2024, Latino voters demonstrated that neither major political party could take their support for granted. In 2026, the question is whether the past two years have changed how they evaluate political promises, immigration enforcement, and economic opportunity.
Did Latino voters change their minds about Donald Trump? Or are they discovering that neither political party has fully earned their trust? When the ballots are counted, will their growing dissatisfaction translate into different choices — or will party loyalty prove stronger than disappointment?
Felicia J. Persaud is the founder and publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, the only daily syndicated newswire and digital platform dedicated exclusively to Caribbean Diaspora and Black immigrant news across the Americas.
