This story was produced by the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
While economic issues continue to top the list of concerns for Latinos in Colorado, a new, non-partisan poll also delved into two topics that have been making recent headlines: Medicaid and immigration.
The Colorado Latino Policy Agenda gives an annual snapshot of how the second-largest and the second fastest growing ethnic population in the state is feeling about pressing political issues.
A key issue on Latinos’ minds is immigration. One in five surveyed said immigration reform and protecting immigrants is a top priority, especially considering the current steps taken by the Trump administration to increase deportations, including more activity by federal immigration officials to round up and detain undocumented people.
They also expressed worry about increased collaboration and sharing of information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. By a 53 to 47 degree margin, Colorado Latinos do not trust that state government agencies will keep data safe and not share it with ICE, even though state law forbids that kind of cooperation. The number was a little bit higher, 54 to 46, when it comes to concerns local police may share data with ICE.
“Similarly, 61 percent of Latinos in Colorado reject (governments) volunteering to share identifiable data about the whereabouts, specifically of immigrant children in Colorado. Again, sharing that information with the Trump administration and ICE — only 39 percent support,” said Gabriel Sanchez, who led the poll for BSP Research.
In July, Colorado joined a multistate coalition in a lawsuit to block the mass transfer of individual personal data to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The month before, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that administers Medicaid, made a voluminous data request to Colorado’s agency that administers Medicaid, as well as their counterparts in more than half a dozen states.
When it comes to on the ground immigration enforcement, a majority of poll respondents (56-44) did not think ICE agents should be allowed to use masks or hide their identities, and 84 percent agreed that law enforcement officers in Colorado should always identify themselves, wear body cameras, drive clearly marked vehicles and treat everyone with dignity and respect.
“They want folks to be treated with respect and they think it's just obvious that it should be a transparent process,” Sanchez said.
Along that vein, Sanchez added that only 38 percent of those surveyed agreed that ICE should be allowed to stop anyone they suspect of being undocumented.
“Obviously, a lot of Latinos in Colorado recognize, even if they're far removed from the immigrant experience themselves, we don't want a policy environment where it's fair game to essentially look for folks who they might perceive look like immigrants and detain or deport those individuals.”
The statewide poll of 1,700 Latinos, done July 10 - Aug. 6, was commissioned by Voces Unidas and the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR). It was conducted in both English and Spanish. It included 455 non-voters. The margin of error was ±2.4%.
Views on Medicaid and health care
Health care costs and access are also critical issues for Colorado Latinos, according to the poll.
Both will be impacted by federal cuts from the Trump administration to Medicaid, the federal-state program which provides health coverage to low-income individuals and families, including children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with disabilities.
Many states, like Colorado, expanded Medicaid to provide health care to adults with incomes below a certain threshold.
“A large segment, essentially a third of Latinos in Colorado who are covered by health insurance, are covered by Medicaid,” said Sanchez.
Hundreds of thousands of Coloradans are expected to lose health care coverage in the wake of deep cuts to the health care program spelled out in the federal tax and spending bill that passed last month.
According to the poll, four in 10 said they would begin to skip or delay treatments if they were to lose health coverage. The same percentage said they would not be able to afford out-of-pocket medical costs and/or life-saving medications; 30 percent reported that they would go into debt or face collections.
“There's still some potential harmful impacts that we're monitoring not just on Medicaid, but also other safety net programs that we've created here in Colorado,” said Dusti Gurule, President and CEO of the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR).
She noted Colorado lawmakers are set to return to the state Capitol Thursday for a special session to address a billion-dollar budget hole. Cuts are inevitable and will be deeply felt, she said.
“We know that folks who don't have health insurance, those impacts are going to be far-reaching with regard to how they live their life, right?” Gurule said. “Their time off from work, their being able to pay rent if they can't get their medication. So I think they (health cuts) are very harmful,”
The polling comes as Coloradans on the individual market are expected to face sharply rising health insurance rates. Congress has not yet renewed COVID-era tax credits, which help tens of thousands of Coloradans afford to buy health insurance through the state’s marketplace, Connect for Health Colorado.
“Lowering health care cost” ranked as the third most commonly noted priority for both the federal (25 percent) and state (26 percent) governments to address.
Overall health for this population has remained the same for about half of respondents, while 16 percent reported it’s gotten worse. Nearly a third are either dissatisfied or indifferent about the quality of medical care they receive, including 29 percent who said they’re dissatisfied with the cost.
Nine percent of Latinos polled said they lack health insurance, with Latinos who aren’t registered to vote being nearly three times as likely (15 percent) to be uninsured as voters (6 percent).
The most common reasons why someone polled lacks health insurance are: cannot afford it (20 percent), their employer does not offer health insurance (20 percent), or they lost a job that provided health insurance (19 percent). Another 12 percent said that they are no longer eligible for public insurance programs.