About half of U.S. Hispanics are worried about their deportation or the deportation of someone they know, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of Hispanic adults taken before the presidential inauguration.
About half, 47 percent, of Hispanic adults, regardless of their immigration status, say they worry “a lot” or “somewhat” that they themselves, a family member or a close friend, could be deported, while 52 percent say they are worried “not at all” or “not much.”
Worries about deportation among immigrants are greatest for those who do not hold U.S. citizenship or do not hold a green card: 67 percent say they worry a lot or some about the deportation of themselves or someone close to them. And among immigrants who are lawful permanent residents, 66 percent say they are worried about deportation of themselves or someone close to them. Both of these groups are potentially subject to deportation. By comparison, one-third of U.S.-born Hispanics say they are worried about deportation of someone they know, while 55 percent say they worry not much or not at all about deportation.
These findings emerge from a new, nationally representative bilingual telephone survey of 1,001 Hispanic adults conducted from December 7, 2016, through January 15, 2017, on landline and cellular telephones by SSRS for Pew Research Center.
Also, the Mexican Consulate in San Diego has registered an increase in the number of calls by Mexican nationals worried about family separations by deportation.
“The calls and emails of people wanting to know what to do have increased at the consulate,” said Marcela Celorio, Consul General of the Mexican Consulate General in San Diego. “We as a consulate, have been guiding the people that call about our chain of protection if they want to stay in the United States, but every case is different, and we can’t generalize, it’s important that people reach us out.”
The Mexican Consulate in San Diego has recently guided an estimate of 6,000 people about their worriedness of deportations.
“The reality is that the possibility of having family separations caused by more restrictive immigration measures has our fellow citizens more worried,” the consul said. “We can give the legal support they need and even mental health support through our health stand located inside our facilities.”
The U.S. Hispanic population stood at 57 million in 2015 and is among the nation’s fastest growing groups. It is also a largely U.S.-born population – 66 percent of Hispanics were born here.