Clarisa Martinez De Castro, director of immigration and national campaigns at the National Council of La Raza, said there are competing influences on Hispanic voters.
On the one hand, home foreclosures, the poor economy and disenchantment with the lack of progress on their issues could depress Hispanic turnout. But she also said her organization is seeing "a growing concern that Latinos are being treated as second-class citizens" and said that could drive voters to the polls.
"These factors are competing against each other, and we're going to see which wins out in the November election," she said.
She also said she was surprised by the finding that immigration ranked so low on voters' concerns. She said factors such as Arizona's law cracking down on illegal immigrants are exactly the sort of thing that gins up enthusiasm to turn out in protest.
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