America's Voice Blog

Posted 01/30/12 at 10:23am By Mahwish Khan

Florida Poll: Little Support for GOP Candidates From Latina Moms; Dream Act Is “Game-changer”

mamiverseOn the eve of the Florida GOP primary last week, Mamiverse released a poll of Latina moms in the state. There's not a lot of good news for Republicans:

With just a few days before the Florida primary election a new survey conducted by Mamiverse shows that Latina mom voters in the Sunshine State are less than impressed by the GOP candidate pool, with more than two-thirds noting “none of these are acceptable.” Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney received the most support, 12 percent, among Latina moms expressing a preference. Romney fared better, with 36 percent support, among Latina moms who self-identified as Republicans.

And what's not a surprise to us, but is apparently lost on the Republicans, is that the DREAM Act is a "game-changer":

The game-changer among Latina moms was support of the Dream Act. The women surveyed were asked whether an unnamed candidate’s pledge to pass the Dream Act would make them more likely to support that candidate, less likely, or have no effect.  

Overwhelmingly, results showed that support for the Dream Act will curry favor with Latina moms, with 71% reported being more likely to support such a candidate, compared with only 7% reporting being less likely and 16% saying that it would not affect their vote.

Posted 01/03/12 at 11:32am By Web Team

Romney’s New Year’s Resolution: Veto the DREAM Act

In case you missed, it over the holiday weekend, Mitt Romney told Iowa caucus voters that he would veto the DREAM Act if elected president. We all knew Romney was running to the far right on immigration in Iowa, but this was his most definitive stance to date.

Here’s the video:

Romney’s statement on New Year’s Eve set off a firestorm online. Matt Viser of the Boston Globe first broke the story, but within minutes everyone from David Axelrod to Ben Smith tweeted about it.  His comments were also widely reported in Spanish media and put the nail in the coffin of any hope Romney may have had of competing for Latino voters in the general election.

Polling from impreMedia and Latino Decisions in February 2011 found that 85% of Latino voters across the political spectrum support the DREAM Act.  Matt Barreto of Latino Decisions wrote:

Looking to 2012, it is clear that immigration and the DREAM Act will still be on the minds of Latino voters…We broke out support for the DREAM Act by intended vote choice in 2012 and found regardless of how Latinos will vote, a very strong majority support the DREAM Act. Among Obama voters, 79% strongly support and 14% somewhat support the DREAM Act – that’s 93% support for seeing this bill passed among the President’s Latino base. Further, among those who say they are undecided 62% strongly support DREAM with 23% somewhat support, all told 85% in favor.  Even among those who plan to vote for a GOP candidate in 2012, Republican contenders should take note, that Republican leaning Latinos also supported the DREAM Act by a big margin: 52% strongly support and 23% somewhat support, totaling to 75% approval of the bill.

Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, provided our perspective:

Romney will find it virtually impossible to reach the 40% threshold among Latino voters that Republican candidates need to win the White House.  This will make it much more difficult for Romney to be competitive in the key swing states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico.

Posted 12/12/11 at 03:04pm By Pili Tobar

Romney Ignores Polling on Latino Voters, Continues to Defend “Mass Deportation”

iowa republican debateAt Saturday night's ABC News/Des Moines Register Republican presidential debate, most of the candidates continued to demonstrate how out of step they are with the public’s wishes on immigration.  As new Fox News polling (yes, FOX News) makes clear, Mitt Romney and other candidates espousing mass deportation positions appeal to a very narrow sliver of anti-immigrant voters in the primary.  Their immigration views are not representative of the majority of the Republican primary voting audience, let alone the overall American public.

As Frank Sharry, Executive Director here at America’s Voice said:

Mitt Romney and anyone else spouting mass deportation talking points have been sold a bill of goods by the anti-immigrant movement.  Such a position alienates millions of Latino voters and fails to connect with a majority of Americans who are much more pragmatic on this issue than most politicians believe.

The newest entry into a spate of recent polling showing Americans are ahead of Republican politicians on this issue comes from an unlikely source – Fox News.  With a headline reading, “Fox News Poll: Voters Back Path to Citizenship for Illegal Immigrants,” the poll asked:

Which of the following comes closest to your view about what government policy should be toward illegal immigrants currently in the United States?  Should the government, ‘Send all illegal immigrants back to their home country’ or ‘Have a guest worker program that allows immigrants to remain in the United States to work, but only for a limited amount of time,’ or ‘Allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country and eventually qualify for U.S. citizenship, but only if they meet certain requirements like paying back taxes, learning English, and passing a background check?’ 

Overall, 66 percent support the option that involves a path to citizenship, versus only 19 percent support for sending all undocumented immigrants home and only 13 percent who favor the guest worker option.  Among Republican voters, 57 percent support the path to citizenship option, with 26 percent favoring the deportation only option and 15 percent favoring the guest worker approach.  These findings uphold similar polling results found by a range of other news organizations over the past week.

Despite this, last Saturday’s debate featured Mitt Romney giving the clearest indication yet of his preference for mass deportation.  Debate moderator Diane Sawyer directed the discussion well, saying, “Can we stipulate that every single person on this stage tonight has said the number one thing to do is secure the borders,” and then asking the candidates’ their plans about what to do with “the 11 million undocumented people in this country.”

In response, Mitt Romney said:

My own view is those 11-- 11 million people should register the fact that they're here in the country. They should be given some transition period of time to allow them to-- settle their affairs and then return home and get in the-- in line at the back of the line with everybody else that wants to come here….So, from my view-- viewpoint, the key-- the key measure is this: No favoritism for permanent residency or citizenship for those that have come here illegally. 

However, the “line” that Romney is referring to simply doesn’t exist – hence the very need for comprehensive immigration reform in the first place. 

Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich continues to poll as the front runner despite the supposed damage his half-step toward a reasonable immigration position was supposed to incur.  For example, former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) wrote in a POLITICO op-ed, “if Republican voters learn the truth about Gingrich’s immigration policies, he may well face the same fate” as Rick Perry, while William Gheen, president of the extreme anti-immigrant Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, said Gingrich's campaign "will now take the 'Perry plunge’”.   However, it hasn’t turned out that way, as polling from last week showed that Gingrich’s immigration positions were most trusted by likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers.  At Saturday’s debate, Gingrich continued to promote his narrow “red card” proposal for a small number of undocumented immigrants, while redoubling his commitment to enforcement and making “deportation dramatically easier.” Meanwhile, the remainder of the candidate field was united in its vision of an enforcement-only immigration stance. 

Concluded Sharry:

There’s no question that the Republican candidates are out of step with the public on immigration.  In fact, with the possible exception of Gingrich, the candidates are out of step with most Republican voters.  The more they try to explain their policy position, the more clear it is that they are appealing to a small sliver of the electorate that is far from a majority in the early primary states, and shooting themselves in the foot for the general election.  When it comes to immigration, the American public is way out in front of the Republican field.

Posted 12/07/11 at 04:40pm By Pili Tobar

Another Day, Another Batch of Polls Showing GOP Leaders are Out of Step with Public on Immigration

pollingWe know we sound like a broken record, but three new polls demonstrate, again, that the Republican presidential contenders are mostly far afield of where the public is on immigration. 

In contrast to the mass deportation approach advocated by many in the Republican field and by many GOPers in Congress (Lamar Smith, Elton Gallegly and Steve King come to mind), the American public, including Republican voters, supports a more practical and nuanced approach to immigration that combines immigration enforcement with a path to legalization for law abiding undocumented immigrants.  The polling also finds that in contrast to Latino voters, for whom immigration is a personal and defining issue, immigration does not animate Republican primary audiences in the manner that many in the political class believe.

Below are highlights from the latest batch of polling to show the error of the dominant Republican approach to immigration:

United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll: “Public Wants Immigrants to Be Able to Stay”:  As Ron Brownstein of National Journal writes of their new polling, “a substantial majority of Americans say they would prefer to allow some or all illegal immigrants to remain in the United States…When asked what should be done with the roughly 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, just 25 percent of those polled said that they should all be deported ‘no matter how long they have been in the U.S.’  Another 28 percent of those surveyed said that all illegal immigrants should be allowed ‘to stay, provided they have broken no other laws and commit to learning English and U.S. history.’  The largest group, at 39 percent, said that the United States should ‘deport some, but allow those who have been here for many years and have broken no other laws to stay here legally.’”  Brownstein also noted the partisan breakdown in the findings, and the fact that Republicans are not as uniformly hard-line as many in the political class suggest, writing, “just 33 percent of Republicans supported deporting all illegal immigrants.  That’s significantly more than the 15 percent of Democrats who backed that approach.  In a roughly mirror image, just 19 percent of Republicans wanted to allow all illegal immigrants to stay, compared with 32 percent of Democrats.  In both parties, though, the largest group aligned behind the choice Gingrich has championed: allowing long-term illegal immigrants who have not broken any other law to remain.  Forty-three percent of Republicans and 42 percent of Democrats backed that option.”

Pew Research Polling: Pew Research Polling: Public Wants “Both/And” Approach to Immigration: New polling from Pew Research Center asked all voters “what should be the priority for dealing with illegal immigration in the U.S.?” and presented three options, “better border security and stronger enforcement of our immigration laws,” “creating a way for illegal immigrants already here to become citizens if they meet certain requirements,” or an option that expressed that “both should be given equal priority?”  The poll finds that the “both/and” approach garners the most support and, when combined with support for the solely path to citizenship option, a full 67% of voters support a form of sensible immigration reform involving a path to citizenship.  Writes Pew Research, “the public continues to support tough measures to crack down on illegal immigration, but also a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally.  A plurality (43%) says the priority should be better border security and enforcement, as well as creating a way for illegal immigrants to become citizens if they meet certain requirements.  Fewer say the priority should only be better security and stronger enforcement of immigration laws (29%), or only creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the U.S. (24%).”  Notably, while 43% of Republican voters support the enforcement-only priority option, a combined 55% of Republicans support one of the two choices involving a path to citizenship option.

New York Times/CBS News: Immigration Not Animating Issue for Republican Voters in 2012 Cycle:  New New York Times/CBS News polling of likely Republican caucus-goers in Iowa provides more evidence that these voters just aren’t animated by immigration.  The poll asked “Which of the following issues will be most important in deciding who you will support in the Iowa Republican Caucus” and listed seven issues, including “illegal immigration.”  Of the seven options, the immigration issue ranked lowest in priority at 4% (including behind an aggregate, “something else” option).

According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:

Another day, another set of polling showing that anti-immigrant extremists don’t speak for Republicans, let alone the American people.  It’s past time our policymakers and politicians took note: the sensible approach to immigration that represents good policy also happens to be good politics.

Posted 12/02/11 at 04:58pm By Pili Tobar

GOP Voters, Like Most Americans, Want Smart Solutions on Immigration (Not Sound Bites)

immigration reform nowWhile analysts try to make sense of the political implications of the ongoing Republican presidential primary dustup over immigration, conventional wisdom seems to be that Republican voters are relentlessly hard line on immigration matters.  Polls that present false choices over immigration only serve to confirm that analysis.  However, numerous polls conducted by a variety of reputable organizations make it clear that Republican voters’ views – and all Americans’ views on immigration – are far more nuanced than that. 

According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:

When public opinion researchers dig deep into the views of voters regarding illegal immigration, the majority of all voters, including the majority of Republican voters, wants a ‘both/and’ approach – one that combines a path to legal status and citizenship for the undocumented with strong enforcement.  Indeed, that’s the entire point of comprehensive immigration reform – to combine smart enforcement with earned citizenship so that a dysfunctional system is transitioned into a legal and orderly one.  The bottom line is that voters want Washington to figure out how to walk and chew gum at the same time.  The commonly-held notion that most Republicans are rabid anti-immigrant zealots is simply false.

Below are some recent assessments of public opinion on immigration, with a particular focus on Republican audiences. 

According to Pew Research Center polling in May 2011, the vast majority of the public and the majority of Republicans support both an earned path to citizenship and stronger border security.  When asked directly about the question of the moment in the Republican race – what to do with the 11 million undocumented immigrants – respondents are in favor of legal status and citizenship: “Thinking about illegal immigration in the United States, do you favor or oppose providing a way for illegal immigrants currently in the country to gain legal citizenship if they pass background checks, pay fines, and have jobs?”  By a 72%-24% margin overall, voters support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in the United States.  

When broken up by political typology, of the two Republican-heavy groups, Main Street Republicans support a path to citizenship 58%-39% while staunch conservatives are split 49%-49.  Of swing groups, Libertarians support it 66%-32%, while Democrats support it 80%-12%.  When the same voters are asked if they support stronger enforcement of immigration laws and border security, they say yes by a margin of 78%-19%, with both Main Street Republicans and staunch conservatives strongly in favor.  The point is that all voters, including the majority of Republicans, support a “both/and” rather than an “either/or approach. 

New poll from Latino Decisions shows Republicans favor policies that allow undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S. over deportation by more than a 2-1 margin.  Latino Decisions polling for Univision in November 2011 found several insightful ways to capture voters’ nuanced positions.  The pollsters asked voters, “which comes closest to your view about what government policy should be toward undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States?  Should the government...Make all undocumented immigrants felons and send them back to their home country, Have a guest worker program that allows immigrants to remain in the United States in order to work, but only for a limited amount of time, or Allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States and eventually qualify for U.S. citizenship, but only if they meet certain requirements like paying back taxes and fines, learning English, and passing a background check?”  Overwhelmingly, the public – including Republicans – favored the path to citizenship option: 58% of all voters, including 53% of Republican voters, supported the path to citizenship option, 13% of all voters and 13% of Republicans who favored the guest worker option, and only 25% of all voters and 30% of Republicans who favored the deportation and felony option and only.  In sum, Republicans favor policies that allow undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S. over deportation by 66% to 30%.

Fox News Channel poll shows Republicans support a “both/and” approach.  In an August 2010 Fox poll, Opinion Dynamics found the following: “Do you favor or oppose giving illegal immigrants who pay taxes and obey the law a second chance and allowing them to stay in the United States?”  All voters favored allowing undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S. by a margin of 68%-27%; Republicans favored it 63%-33%.  “Thinking about the issue of immigration, do you think the federal government’s top priority should be securing the country’s borders, or passing new immigration legislation, or should both be done at the same time?”  All voters favored securing the border first by a margin of 21%-7% over passing new immigration legislation, but 68% favored doing both simultaneously; Republicans favored securing the border first by 28%-4% over new legislation, but 65% favored doing both simultaneously.   Again, when presented with the option of enforcement and path to legal status, the majority of all voters and the majority of Republicans support doing both.

This stands in contrast to CNN polling, which consistently presents a false choice on immigration policy.  For example, polling released in late November 2011 by CNN/ORC asked, “What should be the main focus of the U.S. government in dealing with the issue of illegal immigration -- developing a plan that would allow illegal immigrants who have jobs to become legal U.S. residents, or developing a plan for stopping the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. and for deporting those already here?”  By a 55% - 42% margin, voters support the option that involves stopping illegal immigration – a margin that is 71%-27% among Republicans.  This “either/or” proposition completely misses the more nuanced and complex views held by voters.

Concluded Sharry:

Without a doubt, there is a group of anti-immigrant Republican voters.  However, pundits and candidates alike often mistake their size and significance.  The polling is quite clear.  A majority of Republican voters want the same things that most Americans want on immigration – smart solutions rather than simplistic sound bites.

Posted 09/07/11 at 10:17am By Mahwish Khan

Markos on Obama’s Waning Support From Latino Voters, and How Immigration Is Behind It

Markos MoulitsasTwo must read posts from Markos Moulitsas on the Latino vote and its implications for 2012, especially for Obama.

The first post is titled, Obama's waning Latino support:

This is distressing:

[T]his is the third consecutive week he has earned less than majority support from Hispanics, and the current 44% -- also registered the prior week -- is his lowest from this group [...]

Notably, his approval rating among several groups that previously gave him strong majority support -- postgraduates, Hispanics, 18- to 29-year-olds, and lower-income Americans -- is now below the 50% threshold.

So perhaps Obama has bigger problems than just the "professional left"? This notion that Obama's critics are a small subset of the left is ridiculous, as the data clearly shows. And it's clearly justified—as the president has spent more time this year talking about deficits and austerity than he has about jobs.

Latinos, in particular, are feeling burned after years of hearing the administration brag that they were deporting more undocumented immigrants than Bush did. (Not to mention this.) Obama recently reversed course, of course, but Spanish-language media has treated it as election-season pandering, and it kind of is.

The second post, titled, What drives Latino approval ratings of president, includes an interview of Matt Barreto from Latino Decisions with Alicia Menendez. Markos offers this analysis of why immigration matters to Latinos:

But in case you're wondering why immigration is particularly salient in my community:

53% of poll respondents reported personally knowing an undocumented person, whether a relative, friend, or co-worker. Additionally, 25% of respondents reported personally knowing someone who “faced detention or deportation for immigration reasons.” [...]

According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Education Fund, “These are remarkable findings. It shows that immigration is the top priority among Latinos, and why this is the case. This issue is personal. It's about family, future and full acceptance.

Every time someone rails against immigrants, it's an attack on our very self-identity as Americans, it's an attack on our families, and it's an attack on our broader community. While jobs may impact the community more directly, rationally speaking, immigration hits us at an emotional level. That's why it competes so strongly against the economic concerns that dominate the top concerns of other groups.

It's particularly interesting how immigration rates with the youngest Latinos. Given the difficulties in turning out youth voters, and given how strongly they vote for Democrats, giving them any reason to stay home election day is catastrophic.

And there are dire consequences for Obama if Latinos stay home:

And it gets worse:

Currently, only 38% of Latino voters are certain they will vote for the president next year. This number was 43% in February, when impreMedia/Latino Decisions did a similar poll, and it had increased to 49% in June after the capture of Osama bin Laden and Obama’s speech in El Paso reaffirming his support on immigration.

With numbers like that, Obama will have a hard time winning Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida and other swing states with heavy (non-Cuban) Latino populations. So you can complain about people pointing out the obvious (Obama is in the gutter) and demand people cheer on his failed approach, or you can push for a new approach, one that actually wins votes.

This has nothing to do with the "professional left". Shooting the messenger never won an election.

We couldn't agree more.

Posted 08/26/11 at 10:34am By Mahwish Khan

Rep. Zoe Lofgren Debunks Another of Rep. Lamar Smith’s Misleading Anti-immigrant Attacks

zoe lofgrenRep. Lamar Smith, leader of the Congressional Mass Deportation Caucus and self-appointed leading pundit, recently sent a "Dear Colleague" letter pushing cherry-picked polling information to further his agenda. He's done that before, and we've sliced and diced Smith's punditry. It's the same old anti-immigrant message from Smith, who won't be satisfied until all 11 million undocument immigrants have been forced out of the country.

This time, Smith's writings have been debunked by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration. We're posting it in its entirety:

Dear Colleague:

You may have recently received a Dear Colleague indicating that the American people "put border control ahead of amnesty by 2-1 margin."  The Dear Colleague, however, fails to mention the overwhelming support for comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) by the American people.  Indeed, the Rasmussen telephone survey cited by the Dear Colleague did not even present this question to survey respondents.

In case there are any questions, I think it's important to share the slate of public opinion polls that have consistently shown that strong majorities of American voters support CIR legislation, including a process that allows undocumented immigrants to earn legal immigration status.  A recent May 2011 poll by the Pew Research Center, for example, found that by a 72% to 24% margin, American voters support CIR legislation, including a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in the United States.  Such findings are mirrored in major national and regional polls conducted within the last few years:

-- A December 2010 Boise State University Public Policy Center poll  found that 73% of Idaho residents supported laws "to allow illegal immigrants to stay in this country permanently."

-- An August 2010 Fox News poll  found that more than two-thirds (68%) of voters, including 63% of surveyed Republicans, favor allowing undocumented immigrants who pay taxes and obey the law to stay in the country.

-- An August 2010 Chicago Tribune poll found that 87% of respondents "believed that some sort of legal status should be offered to the nearly 11 million people in the country illegally, provided that the immigrants aren't dangerous felons, that they learn English and that they pay fines and back taxes."

-- A May 2010 NBC/MSNBC/Telemundo poll  found that 65% of voters favor "allowing undocumented immigrants who are already in the country to pay a fine, learn English, and go back to the line for the opportunity to become American citizens."

-- An April 2009 Washington Post/ABC News Poll found that 61% of respondents support giving undocumented immigrants the right to live in the U.S. "if they pay a fine and meet other requirements."

According to these and many other polls, the vast majority of Americans want an immigration solution that provides a pragmatic approach to dealing with undocumented immigrants, including by providing a process for obtaining legal immigration status.

Sincerely,

Zoe Lofgren

Posted 08/01/11 at 12:10pm By Mahwish Khan

Stan Greenberg in the New York Times: Democrats Should Advocate for Immigration Reform

Stanley GreenbergDemocratic pollster Stan Greenberg had an op-ed in Sunday's New York Times with an important message for Democrats: Lean into comprehensive immigration reform. Greenberg believes that it will show that Democrats are interested in making government work, and prove that they are interested in rewarding responsibility and punishing irresponsibility. He challenges the conventional wisdom adhered to by some Democrats (that they should avoid the immigration issue) and explains what the convential wisdom on immigration should be:

To show that government can protect the nation’s interests, Democrats should advocate policies that would control the borders and address problems of undocumented workers.

Dealing with this is even more important in Europe, where anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic parties are surging at the expense of the mainstream left and right parties in France, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, site of the recent slaughter for which an extreme right-winger has claimed responsibility.

In the face of such madness, it is tempting to view the issue as illegitimate, but mainstream parties do so at great cost. Our work in Austria and Britain shows that it is possible for progressives to champion immigration policies that protect the labor market and promote and require integration, beginning with language and schooling.

In the United States, those who advocate comprehensive immigration reform are demonstrating that they consider responsibility a primary value. My surveys show that voters want comprehensive immigration reform rather than half measures. They would like to see strong enforcement at the border and in the workplace, and the expulsion of troublesome undocumented immigrants. While favoring toughness, they also want to find ways to put undocumented workers on a path to citizenship.

These measures, if pushed by Democrats, would show that government operated by the right values. Just as Mr. Clinton’s welfare reform in 1996 required efforts to make work pay and expand child care, immigration reform can show how progressives punish irresponsibility and reward responsibility.

Posted 06/10/11 at 02:37pm By Maria Ponce

Nancy Pelosi: Secure Communities is a “Waste of Taxpayer Money”

Nancy PelosiIn a recent meeting with La Opinión’s editorial board, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi criticizes the Administration’s implementation of the controversial Secure Communities program. La Opinión quotes:

I understand that this is a program that is designed for a specific purpose, not simply to catch the undocumented but dangerous criminals.

I think what we’ve seen is that the government has been applying the program too enthusiastically, even though they deny it.  We know what’s happening in the communities.  I think that it’s a waste of taxpayer money.

We couldn’t agree more. 

In fact, three other Democrat Governors and key allies of the Obama Administration, Pat Quinn, (D-IL), Andrew Cuomo, (D-NY), and Deval Patrick (D-MA) are on the same page as Pelosi. All three have spoken against the initiative because evidence shows that "Secure Communities" is actually making communities less safe.  So have a number of law enforcement leaders, and elected members of Congress, such as Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), both of whom called for an investigation regarding the program. Just today, at a press conference held in Los Angeles, California Reps. Xavier Becerra (D-31), Judy Chu (D-32) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-34) called on Governor Jerry Brown of California to opt out of “Secure Communities.” 

Let's also not forget members of the mainstream (and influential) print media. This recent editorial from the New York Times called out the Obama Administration for its support of the program:

This is a failure of decency and good sense. It merely punishes and does nothing to actually come to grips with the problem of illegal immigration. Resistance has mostly been heard at the ground level, from immigrants and advocates who say families are being split apart, workers frightened and exploited, the American dream dishonored. So it’s good to hear powerful Democrats — Mr. Obama’s friends and allies from large states — telling him that with Secure Communities he has gone way overboard.

Click here to read more.
Posted 06/09/11 at 05:39pm By Pili Tobar

Immigration Is the Top Issue Driving the Latino Vote

latino decisionsLatino Decisions and impreMedia released polling today that shows Latino voters prioritize immigration, and do so because they view the issue through a personal lens. These are some of the important findings that should catch the attention of both political parties as the 2012 cycle begins:

  • Immigration the top priority among Latinos:  When asked the single most important issue facing the Latino community and important for Congress and the President to address, 51% of respondents answered immigration.  The economy and jobs comes in second place at a combined 35%. 

  • Latinos’ personal connection to the immigration debate: 53% of poll respondents reported personally knowing an undocumented person, whether a relative, friend, or co-worker.  Additionally, 25% of respondents reported personally knowing someone who “faced detention or deportation for immigration reasons.”

  • Latinos overwhelmingly favor administrative reform: Poll respondents strongly support executive action in favor of targeted members of the community: 74% support “stopping the deportation of any undocumented immigrant who has not committed a crime, and is married to a U.S. citizen or legal resident;” 66% support “stopping the deportation of any undocumented immigrant high school and college age youth who has not committed any crime;” and 60% support “stopping the deportation of any parent who has not committed a crime and has children under the age of 18 living in the U.S.” 

  • Both parties have work to do:  The poll also found that by a 65% - 19% margin, Latino voters trust President Obama and Democrats more “to make the right decisions when it comes to immigration policy” compared with Republicans.  Yet the news wasn’t all good for Democrats, as 43% of respondents said Democrats in the U.S. Congress were “ignoring or avoiding” immigration reform vs. only 33% who said they were “working on passing” immigration reform.

Click here to read more.

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