Poll: Almost half of voters polled want their states to copy Arizona immigration law
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Despite questions of constitutionality and discrimination, almost half of Americans questioned in a new poll say they want their states to pass an immigration law similar to Arizona’s
The Quinnipiac University poll, released Tuesday, also found that Americans opposed a boycott of Arizona to protest the law by a ratio of better than 6-to-1.
This latest national poll comes as many municipalities consider whether to advocate the boycott of the Arizona law and the Obama administration and others consider bringing legal challenges. Demonstrators have repeatedly protested the law, which broadly increases police power to demand documents proving legal residency.
‘The Arizona immigration law has emerged as a major divide in the country, but the numbers are on the side of those supporting it,’ said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. ‘The strong plurality who says they would like a similar law in their own state probably portends the law will be an issue in many, many campaigns this November across the country. Depending on how those elections and court challenges come out, copycat Arizona laws could be a hot issue in state capitals after November.’
The survey of 1,914 registered voters was carried out from May 19 to 24. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
According to the poll, surveyed voters said they wanted their states to pass a law similar to Arizona’s by 48% to 35%. Overall, voters approved of the law by 51% to 31%, and, by 45% to 36%, they believe it will reduce illegal immigration.
The support for the Arizona law comes despite the view by voters (45% to 40%) that it will lead to discrimination against Latinos.
By 66% to 26%, those surveyed said they would like the nation to move toward stricter enforcement of immigration laws rather than integrating immigrants into society.
-- Michael Muskal
twitter.com/LATimesmuskal
