An Immigration System that Gets Back to Basics

Immigration is one of many issues shaping how Latinos think about their lives today and their hopes for the future, but it is having a uniquely direct impact on Latino families and communities. Enforcement is not something happening somewhere else. Its consequences are being felt in homes, workplaces, schools, and everyday life, including by Latinos who are U.S. citizens or lawfully present. Recent Equis polling also points to shifting Latino attitudes of political parties’ approaches to immigration and border security. After decades of broken promises and legislative stalemates, Latinos want concrete changes to our immigration system so that it delivers greater security and opportunity for their families and communities. 

What do Latinos want?

Latinos’ views on immigration do not operate in a vacuum. 

• They are connected to broader concerns about economic security, public safety, and the ability to achieve the American Dream. Pocketbook issues come first. More than half of Latinos in recent Equis polling name either the cost of living or the economy and jobs as the country's most important problem, while UnidosUS similarly finds that four of Latino voters' top five priorities are economic. 
• For Latinos, the American Dream itself is increasingly about stability, security and safety. Equis found that 45% prioritize comfortably affording basic necessities and 40% point to living in a safe and stable community. While 72% of Latinos believe America offers opportunities for people willing to work hard, 32% say the American Dream used to be achievable but no longer is, rising to 40% among Latinos under 40. 

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‍Immigration fits squarely within this larger desire for stability, security and safety. 

• For Latinos, safety and security have long meant more than an orderly border. They also mean immigration enforcement that protects their families and communities. In past years, Latino voters cited border security as a top concern and supported immigration enforcement focused on the “worst of the worst” criminals, which it expected to be President Trump’s focus. Just a few months into Trump’s second term, 66% of Latinos believed that his enforcement policies had gone too far.
• The gap between their expectations and reality on the ground helps explain why so many Latinos believe the Administration has gone too far. By March 2026, those concerns persisted. Latinos’ greatest concerns centered on the separation of families and detention of children, followed by the detention or deportation of U.S. citizens and lawful residents. Equis’s Beyond the Ballot research points to the same trend: among participants who first emphasized border security, concern grew over time about aggressive enforcement targeting long-established immigrants, workers, and families.
• High-profile incidents— from the deportation of Kilmar Ábrego Garcia and detention of five-year old Liam Ramos to the deaths of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, two Latino fathers killed while on their way to work— have brought national attention to the human consequences of the Administration’s enforcement approach. 
• Latinos’ rejection of mass deportation should not be mistaken for a rejection of border security and enforcement.  Even as Latinos rejected Trump’s handling of immigration overall by a wide margin, they remained nearly evenly divided on his handling of the border—48% approved and 47% disapproved. Yet the border was not among Latinos’ leading priorities: just 7% identified uncontrolled immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border as a top priority.

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The effects of Trump’s mass deportation strategy are reverberating broadly across the Latino community. Latinos increasingly worry that immigration enforcement can reach anyone and these fears are impacting their day-to-day actions. 

• In 2025, Equis found that 65% of Latino voters believed the Administration’s immigration actions would make it more difficult for hardworking Latinos to feel safe due to increased racial profiling and harassment regardless of immigration status. Similarly, UnidosUS found that 44% of Latino voters say they or people in their communities fear harassment or arrest by immigration authorities even if they are U.S. citizens or lawfully present. 
• That insecurity is felt irrespective of actual immigration status. A recent KFF/New York Times poll found that since 2023, concerns about detention or deportation have increased from 33% to 50% among lawfully present immigrants and from 12% to 31% among naturalized U.S. citizens. The impact goes beyond fear of detention or deportation: nearly half of naturalized citizens and lawfully present immigrants say they and their families feel less safe. 

• Those concerns are shaping everyday behavior. A Pew study found that nearly one in five Latinos report changing some aspect of their daily routine because they fear being asked to prove their legal status.

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The current Administration is pursuing a two-pronged approach that is creating instability for Latino families and communities: dramatically ramping up enforcement while simultaneously stripping away existing protections and making the legal immigration system harder to navigate.

• With substantial new funding from Congress, the Trump Administration has secured an unprecedented infusion of resources for the Department of Homeland Security, roughly $240 billion, fueling massive expansions of arrests, detention, and deportations.
• More than a million immigrants who had permission to live and work in the United States have lost—or face losing—those protections. The Administration has terminated or sought to terminate TPS protections for large populations, revoked humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, and delayed DACA renewal processing - all part of what has been described as a broader process of “delegalization.”
• Even those already navigating the legal immigration system face new obstacles. From work authorization to green cards and naturalization, the Administration has made established processes slower, more expensive, and more burdensome.

An Immigration System that Gets Back to Basics

Equis research suggests that Latinos want policymakers to “get back to basics” on immigration - keeping communities safe, while protecting the opportunity for hardworking people, including Latinos, to get ahead.  In its March 2026 poll, Equis found that 64% of Latino voters said this approach came closer to their views than the White House’s mass deportation message. Getting back to basics does not mean returning to the status quo or defending an immigration system that has failed to live up to its promise. It means getting the fundamentals right: a government that keeps communities safe, maintains an orderly and functional immigration system, and creates opportunities for people who are willing to work hard and contribute.

More recent Equis polling suggests that Latino voters' views of which party can best handle immigration and border security are also shifting. In October 2026, 53% trusted Democrats on immigration compared with 35% who trusted Republicans, an 18-point advantage that has grown from 10 points in February 2026. Democrats have also gained ground on border security, closing a seven-point Republican advantage in February to a one-point difference in October.

While views of political parties are shifting, Equis research going back to 2024 points to a consistent theme in Latino attitudes on immigration: they want both safety and opportunity. That finding is reinforced by a recent poll that found 78% of Latino voters believe it is important to deport dangerous criminals without targeting long-residing undocumented immigrants who do not have criminal records, while 66% identified pathways to citizenship for long-residing immigrants and people brought here as children as a top immigration priority.

Taken together, these findings demonstrate that Latinos reject the false choice between safety and opportunity. Two areas for a “back to basics” approach to focus on include: 

• Smart, targeted, and accountable enforcement. Focus enforcement on genuine public safety threats while establishing meaningful guardrails, professional standards, transparency, and accountability to ensure immigration laws are enforced fairly and effectively.
• Pathways to stability and opportunity. Create pathways for long-established immigrants and families with deep ties to the country to secure durable legal status, while modernizing legal immigration so future immigration better meets the needs of American families, workers, and communities.

Immigration, economic security, and public safety should not be treated as separate concerns. An immigration system that gets back to basics should help all Americans, including Latinos, provide for their families, live in safe and stable communities, and build a better future. 

Smart, Targeted and Accountable Enforcement

Expanded immigration enforcement is reaching deeply into Latino families and communities. An estimated 20.7 million Latinos - or more than one in four Latinos - live in mixed-status or undocumented households and are at risk of deportation or live with someone who is. The scale of interior enforcement has grown substantially: ICE detention reached a record 73,400 people, while deportations increased roughly five-fold during the administration's first year. As enforcement has expanded beyond what many Latino voters expected, concerns about how it is being carried out have grown. A recentl PRRI survey found that 68 percent of Latinos report having little or no confidence in ICE.

Getting back to basics means addressing both how enforcement is carried out and who is subject to it. Greater accountability, professional standards, and humane detention conditions are important, but they are not enough. A different approach would focus enforcement resources on genuine public-safety threats, while creating a way for long-established immigrants who work hard, play by the rules, and pose no public safety threat to transition into the legal immigration system rather than remain subject to enforcement. Progress toward these goals could include the following:

• Establishing clear enforcement priorities and requiring DHS to follow them. Binding enforcement priorities would focus enforcement resources on genuine public safety threats, particularly people with violent or recent serious criminal convictions. Those priorities should apply across the enforcement system—from arrest and detention to the cases government attorneys pursue. It is also critical for DHS to publicly report on compliance, with enforcement funding tied to adherence to these priorities.
• Professionalizing immigration enforcement and accountability. Establish strong hiring, vetting, training, and professional standards for immigration officers along with clear rules defining ICE’s mission and authorities and governing how agents exercise them. Equis research shows strong support for safeguards such as verifying status before detention, requiring body cameras and visible identification, and holding agents accountable for excessive force and misconduct. Equis has also highlighted research showing strong support for requiring warrants before entering private property and protecting sensitive locations. 
• Limiting detention to when absolutely necessary and ending family detention. Reserve detention for cases where it is truly necessary to protect public safety and end family detention. Enforceable standards would also ensure adequate medical care, safety, and humane treatment for those who are detained. Equis research shows strong support for improving detention conditions, and finds that the detention of children is among the leading concerns about current enforcement efforts.
• Moving non-priority populations out of the enforcement system. Create mechanisms for people who have lived, worked, and contributed to communities to obtain a durable legal status would provide greater stability for families and communities while allowing enforcement agencies to concentrate resources on high-priority cases. 

Building Pathways to Opportunity

Latino families and communities are particularly affected by an immigration system that offers too few legal pathways and has become increasingly difficult to navigate. Those trying to use the legal immigration system face growing delays, costs, and uncertainty. Pending immigration caseloads have reached a record 12.1 million cases. Many immigrants who had been permitted to live and work legally in the United States for years are losing those protections, while millions of long-established immigrants remain outside the legal immigration system altogether. More than 9 million undocumented immigrants have lived in the country for at least a decade, and immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean account for 84% of that total. 

Getting back to basics means ensuring that hard work and contributions to our country create opportunities—and that our legal immigration system works for America’s families, economy, and communities. Recent Equis polling found that 22% of Latinos identified the lack of legal pathways for long-term undocumented immigrants as the most urgent immigration problem facing the country, while another 14% pointed to too few legal options for people to immigrate to the United States. Progress toward a system that expands opportunity and better meets America’s needs could include:

• Stability and opportunity for people with deep roots in America. Durable pathways could end the cycle of temporary protections and legal limbo and provide an opportunity to legal status, and eventually, citizenship. This is particularly important for people with strong ties to American communities and families, including spouses and children of U.S. citizens, Dreamers/DACA recipients and TPS recipients, and other long-established immigrants who have worked hard and contributed to American communities and the economy. Equis research reinforces this approach: among Latino voters, support for restoring legal protections to those who lost TPS or asylum protections exceeded opposition by 42 percentage points.
• Pathways that help address America’s economic needs. Legal immigration can give people opportunities to contribute while helping meet needs that matter to families, communities, and the economy. This could include creating new pathways to help meet workforce needs in sectors such as caregiving, agriculture, and construction. Recent research finds majority support for additional visas for health care, caregiving, and agricultural workers, while UnidosUS has found Latino voters support strengthening employment-based legal immigration. New pathways should also include strong labor standards and worker protections so that expanding opportunity for immigrant workers goes hand in hand with improving jobs and working conditions for all workers.
• Improvements to the existing legal immigration system, particularly for families. Family reunification has long been a central part of the legal immigration system and is particularly important for Latino families. Yet longstanding backlogs can leave families waiting years to reunite. Modernizing the system could include clearing family visa backlogs, reducing unnecessary barriers and costs, and strengthening the government's capacity to process applications in a timely manner so that existing legal pathways work as intended.

Implications for the Near Term

A back-to-basics immigration approach requires both a compelling long-term vision and a strategy for making progress with the tools available today. Elected officials should look for opportunities to show what and who they are fighting for, draw clear lines against policies that undermine Latino families and communities, and deliver tangible improvements wherever possible.

Latinos want to see that elected leaders care about what is happening to their families and communities—and that they are using the power they have to do something about it. 

Progress could make a meaningful difference for Latino families and communities facing the consequences of expanded enforcement and increasingly restricted legal immigration avenues, while building confidence in what a broader governing agenda could accomplish in the future.

• Fight for families and accountability. Equis research suggests Latinos want policymakers to credibly push back against the Administration’s enforcement overreach and fight for concrete ICE guardrails and accountability. Oversight, appropriations, and other congressional tools can be used to challenge enforcement overreach and expose abuses, protect lawful immigration pathways, and demand accountability—even when broader reforms remain out of reach.
• Deliver where there are openings. Equis research also points to frustration among Latino voters with decades of promises and limited progress on immigration. Near-term opportunities could include protections for Dreamers and TPS holders, as well as targeted legislative, oversight, and appropriations measures to establish meaningful guardrails for immigration enforcement. These steps could deliver meaningful improvements for families and communities even in a difficult legislative environment.
• Build toward what comes next. Near-term efforts should reinforce, rather than substitute for, a larger governing agenda. Policymakers should continue developing and advancing concrete proposals for smart, targeted and accountable enforcement, pathways for long-established immigrants, modernized legal immigration system, and a well-managed border and asylum system that maintains order while responsibly addressing humanitarian needs.

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About the Equis Senior Fellowship Program

The Equis Senior Fellowship Program advances a Latino-focused policy agenda grounded in community knowledge, rigorous research, and evidence-based solutions. By bringing experienced policy leaders together with Equis' research and a broad network of partners, the Fellowship bridges the gap between research, lived experience, and policymaking. Its goal is to translate these insights into actionable policy solutions that reflect the priorities of Latino communities, including family security, economic opportunity, and a fair shot for the next generation to thrive.

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About Felicia Escobar Carrillo

Felicia Escobar Carrillo serves as Equis' Senior Fellow for Immigration, bringing decades of experience advancing immigration policy and advocating for Latino and immigrant families. From 2021-2025, she served as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), where she helped lead significant operational and policy reforms. Previously, Felicia served in the Obama White House, advancing immigration reform efforts and the implementation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Her experience also includes work in the U.S. Senate, community advocacy, and advising philanthropic institutions on immigration policy and grantmaking.