The Question Hispanics Who Would Leave the US if They Could May be Answering

15% of US Hispanics would leave the US permanently, given the opportunity, according to a recent Gallup study.This is higher than the 10% of Americans nationwide who would migrate, and lower than the 22% of corresponding Latin Americans. Perhaps not surprisingly, the desire to migrate among US Hispanics born outside the U.S. (18%) is more comparable to that of those in Latin America, while Hispanics born in the US have a desire (12%) similar to the overall US adult population.

Gallup summarized the bottom line:

Gallup's survey suggests that U.S. Hispanics who would like to migrate are more likely to be struggling, foreign-born residents who are ready to give up the American dream and move home or try again somewhere else. These findings not only have implications on the national debate about immigration reform in the United States, but also on the immigration policies and economies of other countries to which these potential migrants would like to move.

However, in addition, the survey highlights a set of coinciding factors, namely that those who are more likely to want leave the US, are those who are less integrated, which includes having a command of English, and are less well-off economically. This suggests the question as to whether those who are "ready to give up the American dream" invested enough of it in themselves in the first place, i.e., whether integration is part and parcel of the American dream? Maybe that is question on which those Hispanics who prefer to stay may have some insight...