At least seven out of ten Latino workers in Miami believe that the U.S. economy is headed in the wrong direction.
According to a report from the union Unite Here published this Tuesday, 77% of respondents state that the economic situation "is getting worse," while only 5% believe it is improving.
The study, titled "We Are Miami" and conducted in collaboration with SEIU 32BJ, surveyed 2,381 Latinos in Miami-Dade County in person from March to June 2026. The participants hail from Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the United States, and other countries.
The pressure on finances dominates the responses. 88% of those surveyed expressed the highest level of concern—five out of five—regarding the cost of transportation and gasoline. This is followed by food, at 85%; housing and basic services, at 78%; and the price of insurance and medical expenses, at 67%.
Flor Ramírez, a worker at Miami International Airport and a member of local 355 of Unite Here, summarized what the union found while visiting neighborhoods: "The first thing we heard when we went door to door was how much prices have increased in Miami, including higher rents."
This discomfort translates into support for redistributive measures. 82% of those surveyed would support capping rent increases, and two-thirds—67%—would back raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires.
The context is significant: the cost of living in Miami surpassed that of New York for the first time in 2026, and housing prices have increased by 79% since the pandemic.
The immigration policy also generates rejection. 58% of those surveyed said they feel "disappointed" with the government's measures in this regard, while 19% expressed being "angry."
The report indicates that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Miami leads immigration arrests during Trump's second term with over 41,000 detentions since the beginning of 2025.
Unite Here represents 300,000 workers in hotels, restaurants, and gaming in the United States and Canada.
The organization published the survey with an eye on the midterm elections of November 3, 2026, in which Miami-Dade —where 70% of the population is Hispanic and 54% was born abroad— will be a decisive territory.
The underlying political fact is significant: in the 2024 presidential election, Trump became the first Republican candidate to win that county since 1988, receiving 48% of the national Hispanic vote according to the Pew Research Center.
However, the discontent documented in "We Are Miami" raises questions about the Cuban vote in Florida in the lead-up to the upcoming elections, where the economy and migration are set to be the central issues.
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