For US Latinos, life is worsening under Trump: survey

Half of US Latinos feel their lives have gotten worse under Donald Trump’s presidency, according to a new survey published by Pew Research Center two weeks before midterm elections, which are seen as a referendum on the president’s performance.

Published on Thursday, the findings marked a significant increase from a previous poll conducted weeks after Trump’s election, which found that 32 percent of Latinos felt their lives had worsened over the previous year.

The survey also found that 49 percent of Latinos “have serious concerns” about their place in US society and more than half worry a relative or friend could be deported.

Additionally, more than two-thirds felt that Trump’s policies “have been harmful to Hispanics”, marking a significant increase from the 15 percent who felt former President Barack Obama’s policies were harmful in 2010 or the 41 percent who deemed George W Bush’s policies harmful in 2007.

An estimated 29 million Latinos are eligible to vote in the upcoming midterm elections, which are slated to take place on November 6.

The midterm vote will decide all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 of the 100 Senate seats and 39 state and territorial governorships, among others.

Anti-immigration measures 

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump railed against immigrants, vowed to increase deportations and promised to building a wall on the US-Mexico border.

Since taking office, his administration’s “zero tolerance” has prompted broad criticism from rights groups and immigration support organisations.

After public outcry over the separation of immigrant children and their parents, the Trump administration rolled back the practice.

But before it was upended, the practice led to the separation of some 2,600 children from their parents. Hundreds of children remain separated from their families.

Republicans and Democrats have both seized on immigration as an issue to mobilise voters to head to the polls next month.

In House, Senate and governorship races, more than $124m has been spent on more than 280,000 immigration-related ads, according to a CNN analysis of data provided by Kantar Media/CMAG.