Union canvassers knocked on more than 30,000 doors across Miami between March 21 and June 27, 2026, and what they heard back was blunt: working-class Latino residents are angry, squeezed by costs, and increasingly thinking about packing up and leaving the city they call home. The unions completed more than 2,381 surveys of Latino working-class voters during canvassing in Miami in 2026, according to the survey report.
The results, detailed in the union-led “Somos Miami” report and covered by the Miami Herald, paint a picture of a community caught between soaring costs and fear of immigration enforcement. Food and housing costs received 5-out-of-5 difficulty ratings from 85% and 78% of respondents, respectively, while 88% cited high gas and transportation expenses as a major concern, according to Florida Politics. The Miami Herald's reporting on the union data likewise distinguished the transportation concern from the 5-out-of-5 ratings.
Wendi Walsh, one of the union leaders quoted in the report, said families were living in fear and disillusionment under the current immigration enforcement system, according to the Herald. Martha Cabrera added that Latino voters in Miami felt disappointed and let down by current conditions, the paper reported. Elvia Montero told canvassers that elderly residents were working two jobs because SNAP or Social Security benefits were insufficient to get by, per the same account.
Economic Anxiety Runs Deep
Asked about the direction of the economy, 77% of respondents said conditions were getting worse, while smaller shares said things were staying the same or improving, according to Florida Politics. Respondents overwhelmingly pointed fingers at politicians, corporations, and multimillionaires as responsible for the cost-of-living crisis, the survey found. Many said they had considered leaving Miami altogether because of high debt and declining economic conditions, the Herald reported.
That frustration lines up with broader trend data. A July 2026 analysis highlighted by Wealth Management found Miami had become more expensive than greater New York City, with housing costs about 5% higher than New York's. Even as wealthy transplants poured into South Florida during the pandemic, typical local household incomes remained about $1,000 below the national median, according to that report.
Despite that economic pain, respondents' policy views reveal a populist streak that cuts against Miami's recent conservative electoral trends. Support for taxing millionaires and billionaires came from 67% of respondents, while a smaller share opposed the idea, per Florida Politics. Nearly all respondents, 98%, said they supported protecting Medicare and Medicaid from budget cuts, according to the same survey.
Rent Control Demand Runs Into State Law
The survey also found strong support for rent control among respondents, according to the Herald's reporting on the union data. But that popular demand collides directly with state law. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Live Local Act in March 2023, amending state statute to strictly prohibit local governments from capping rents or imposing price controls on private residential rentals, according to Shutts & Bowen LLP. Under the existing state prohibition, county and municipal leaders in Miami-Dade cannot enact the rent stabilization measures many surveyed tenants say they want.
Wage concerns also featured heavily in the report, which recommended raising the minimum wage, according to the Herald. The report also addressed minimum-wage policy.
Immigration Fear Colors Daily Life
Immigration enforcement emerged as another major flashpoint. The Trump administration's immigration crackdown ranked as a top priority concern among working-class Latino respondents, and many said they had considered leaving Miami specifically because of it, per the Herald's reporting. Respondents described their feelings about immigration using words like angry and disappointed, according to the survey findings.
Those fears track closely with state and federal policy shifts. Florida Senate Bill 1718, in effect since July 2023, requires state hospitals receiving Medicaid funds to track patients' citizenship status and expands employment-verification requirements for private employers, according to KFF. The law also invalidated out-of-state driver's licenses issued to undocumented immigrants and increased penalties for human smuggling, per the same source.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration eliminated Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Venezuelans, stripping them of both the ability to work legally in the United States and protection from deportation, according to the Herald's reporting. That fight has already played out in Congress: in March 2026, a bipartisan House coalition gathered the 218 signatures needed on a discharge petition for H.R. 1689 to force a floor vote preserving TPS and work authorization for roughly 350,000 Haitian immigrants, a battle Hoodline covered in its report on Miami pols forcing a Haiti TPS vote.
Dignity Act Draws Mixed Reactions
The survey report recommended expanding legal pathways to permanent residency and citizenship, and specifically suggested including Temporary Protected Status holders in any such expansion, according to the Herald. U.S. Representative María Elvira Salazar's Dignity Act, which has not yet advanced to a vote in the House, aims to provide a legal pathway for immigrants who have lived in the country for years without a criminal record. The bill would mandate that undocumented immigrant workers pay a $1,000 annual fee for seven years to remain legally authorized to work, according to the Herald's reporting.
That figure differs from the version of the bill described elsewhere: the Dignity Act of 2025, endorsed by the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in May 2026, has separately been described as requiring a seven-year program with $7,000 in total restitution fees for long-term undocumented residents with clean records, according to Hoodline's earlier reporting citing the National Immigration Forum. Despite the pathway to legal status the bill offers, survey respondents largely opposed its proposed annual fee, according to the Herald.
UNITE HERE Local 355 represents hospitality workers across South Florida, while its canvassing partner SEIU 32BJ represents workers from hospitality to maintenance, according to UNITE HERE Local 355. The survey report concluded that affordability and immigration crackdowns had reached a tipping point for working-class Latinos in Miami, the Herald reported.
The canvassing effort took place during a midterm election season. The effort underscores how Hispanic voter sentiment in South Florida has become a pivotal, closely watched variable in the region.
