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By the Numbers: Immigration, Latino Voters, and Deferred Action

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With less than two months before the 2012 elections, the array of facts and figures circulating each day can be hard to follow.  When it comes to the politics of immigration and the Latino vote, here are the numbers you need to know:

  • 72,000: The number of young people who have already requested relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, also known as the DREAMer deferred action program that President Obama announced  in June.  The program officially launched on August 15th, and the first approvals are already starting to arrive in mailboxes.
  • 68%: With more and more positive attention to immigration, Gallup finds that 68% of Latinos are “certain to vote” this November – the highest level this year.  As David Lauter of the Los Angeles Times notes, “the percentage of Latinos who say they expect to vote this year has risen significantly over the last month.”
  • 12.2 million: NALEO projects that Latino voter turnout in the 2012 elections will reach an all-time high of 12.2 million voters.
  • $474,000: Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie’s American Crossroads Super PAC is launching a $1.4 million ad buy in Nevada focused on unemployment, a third of which ($474,000) will go toward Spanish language advertising.  POLITICO Morning Score’s James Hohmann grasped the true intentions behind the Spanish-language component today, writing “Romney’s path in Nevada is much easier if Latino turnout can be dampened by driving up the president’s negatives. Ads like this can help.”
  • Zero.  Zip.  Nada: This is the number of pro-DREAM and pro-immigration reform mentions during the Republican National Convention (RNC), in contrast to the proceedings at the DNC.  Adding it all up (Obama’s large lead with Latinos, the Republican Party’s failure to embrace immigration reform, and the new Spanish language ad blitz from their allies) it equals a Republican Latino strategy more designed to say “stay home” than “vote for us.”