Lake Research for America's Voices (PDF). 5/13-19. Registered voters (with Latino oversample). MoE 3.5% (No trend lines)
Do you support or oppose Congress passing comprehensive immigration reform?
Support 57
Oppose 18
Don't Know 26
Now I'd like to read you a description of comprehensive immigration reform: Under this proposal, the federal government would strengthen border security and crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants currently living in the United States would be required to register with the federal government, undergo criminal background checks, pay taxes, learn English, and go to the back of the line for U.S. citizenship. Do you support or oppose Congress passing comprehensive immigration reform?
Support 78
Oppose 16
Don't Know 5
Interestingly, there is almost no difference in support among all voters and Latino voters. There is no ethnic gap. And what ideological gap exists, isn't what you'd imagine:
Support/Oppose
Democrats 76/17
Independents 76/19
Republicans 84/12
You read that right -- Republicans are even MORE likely to support reform than Democrats and Independents. But the difference is slight. Same thing with the regional breakdowns -- Northeasterns support reform 80/15, Midwest is 81/14, West is 78/16, and the South is 76/19. The border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas support comprehensive immigration support 81/13.
Fact is, support remains gaudily high across the board.
The only mystery is why the White House and Congress remain so afraid to act. Calling up National Guard to patrol the border may provide great optics for the nativists, but Americans want a real solution. Heck, the polling suggests Americans support the Arizona law not because it'll actually stop illegal immigration, but because they want to send a message to DC to do something about the problem:
A majority of voters supports the new Arizona law, but Latinos oppose the law in large numbers and with great intensity. While overall voters favored the Arizona anti-immigration law by a 60%-23% margin (with an addition 18% expressing uncertainty), Latinos opposed the AZ law by a 55%-35% split (10% unsure).
Support for Arizona law comes out of a desire for national action to fix our broken immigration system. When asked why they support the Arizona law, a majority of those in support favored the measure because “the federal government has failed to solve the problem” (52%), compared to 28% who said because “it will reduce illegal immigration” and 12% who said “it will reduce crime.”
However, undocumented immigrants don't have many Goldman Sachs alumni among their ranks, rendering this issue a low priority among DC power brokers, both in Congress and in the White House.