More Americans report contact with Latinos

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they have "a lot" or "some" contact with Latinos in their homes, workplaces or stores, a poll indicates.

The 66 percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday who say they have some or a lot of contact with Latinos represents a 15-point jump from 1990, the U.S. broadcaster said.

"The jump in contact is a result of the growing number of Latinos and their growing presence in all 50 states," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "But familiarity is not the same as knowledge."

Holland said that even though U.S. Census figures show that roughly 60 percent of U.S. Latinos were born in the United States, "nearly half of people we questioned said they assume that Latinos who they have never met are immigrants, and one in five believe they are illegal immigrants."

CNN said its poll was conducted Oct. 16-18 with 1,038 adult Americans questioned by telephone. It carried a sampling error of 3 percentage points.