According to a poll released by Florida International University, most new arrivals from Cuba favor President Joe Biden’s handling of critical issues, unlike presiding Cuban residents who disagree with Biden’s performance.
Guillermo Grenier, the survey’s lead investigator and a professor of sociology at FIU, thinks that “newer arrivals have a more liberal way of looking at social needs.”
However, Grenier has previously seen this trend in FIU Cuba Polls conducted since 1991. Cuban Americans integrate into the U.S. political landscape and identify with the same political parties as their families or what they have seen on television or radio.
Among all Cuban Americans polled, 32% gave Biden a positive job approval. His numbers were higher among Cuban American Democrats at 73% and the newest arrivals at 64%.
Florida Democrats say they have limited resources to focus on outreach as Republicans have gained ground among Cuban Americans and Latino voters. According to the poll, an estimated 52% of registered Cuban American voters in Florida are Republican, 21% are Democrats, and 27% are “other.” The poll also found that recent Cuban immigrants who eventually become voters lean towards the Republican party.
Only 28% of Cubans approve of Biden’s handling of the Cuban policy. “Our opinions are very ambivalent. We can go different ways to arrive at a feeling that we’re changing the situation,” said Grenier. “It’s really up to political leadership to design the way that we’re going to go.”
There was also strong support for the Biden Administrative move to lift Trump-era restrictions on U.S. airlines flying to airports outside Havana. “Cuban Americans are willing to put out a carrot for the Cuban government in hopes that it will change,” Grenier said.
In terms of U.S. policy toward Cuba, many of the poll’s findings were similar to the last poll conducted in 2020. Almost 7 in 10 (68%) Cuban Americans said the decadelong embargo against Cuba hasn’t worked, yet 63% of those polled say they support continuing it. Grenier believes this is because “Cuban Americans are willing to follow leadership in many directions.”
Ahead of the midterms, Cuban Americans identified the economy, health care, immigration, and Cuban policy as top issues.
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