‘FEELING THE SQUEEZE’: Most Hispanics Say Country’s on Wrong Track, Taxes Are Too High

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—According to a recent poll, fully 75% of Hispanic voters think the country is on the wrong track. Even among self-identified Hispanic Democrats, 63% of those polled held that view. 

The survey—conducted online by Public Opinion Strategies for Americans for Prosperity, a libertarian conservative political advocacy group—found that Hispanics, by margins of 90% or more, want to keep the current tax rate and are opposed to increasing it. 

The LIBRE Initiative, an organization aimed at educating and empowering Hispanic Americans, analyzed the poll's findings on what 300 Hispanic voters thought about economic issues, such as the economy, taxes, government spending, and the cost of living.  

Among the key findings: 

• 80% of Latino voters say their taxes are too high. 

• 80% of them say it’s a bad time to increase taxes. 

• Of the tax cuts in 2017, a plurality, 44%, of Hispanic voters thought cutting taxes for American families did the most to grow the economy. Sixteen percent cited increasing the standard tax deduction, and another 16% cited cutting global business taxes to enable America to better compete with China. 

The survey, conducted online from Sept. 5 to 11 but released Friday, had a margin of error of plus or minus 6.45 percentage points. 

At the end of 2025, a series of tax cuts is set to expire. If the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is not renewed by Congress, taxes will increase for 62% of American households in 2026, reducing take-home pay for Hispanics and non-Hispanics alike. 

The LIBRE Initiative calculated that a joint-filer Hispanic household with two children that makes $65,540, the median income for Hispanic households in 2023, would see a tax increase of about $1,242.70. Their take-home pay would drop by 2.04%.  

In a statement, Jose Mallea, the CEO of the LIBRE Initiative, said many Latino families are “feeling the squeeze.” 

“This poll confirms what we’ve been hearing in communities across the country: Americans want leaders to focus on pro-growth policies, protect hard-earned incomes, and prevent tax hikes that would make life even more expensive,” he said. “Congress must act before it's too late.”