National Poll Finds Overwhelming Support For Executive Action on Immigration

*It’s not surprising that an overwhelming majority of Latino voters support the President’s executive action on immigration. I’m interested in knowing what Latino voters feel about the President himself. After that I’ll be curious to read what the pundits have to say about the coveted Latino vote. VL

By Latino Decisions

A national poll of Latino voters found 89% support for President Obama’s use of Executive Authority on immigration. The poll was conducted November 20-22, coinciding with the news of President Obama’s policy announcement, and was conducted by Latino Decisions and commissioned by Presente.org in partnership with NALACC and Mi Familia Vota. [View PPT slides]

The findings come as Republicans threaten to derail the relief for almost five million immigrants through lawsuits or defunding the program and risking a government shutdown. In the poll, 80 percent of Latino voters say they are opposed to congressional Republicans’ plans to block executive action by defunding programs that would support it.

Latino voters across party affiliation showed overwhelming support for the executive action with 95% of Democrats, 81% of Independents, and 76% of Latino Republicans saying they support the decision by Obama to provide relief from deportation to undocumented parents of U.S. citizen and legal resident children.  Likewise, a clear majority of Latinos across partisanship oppose GOP efforts to block or derail the program with 86% of Democrats, 76% of Independents and 60% of Latino Republicans stating they oppose efforts by the Republican Party to block the executive action.

According to Matt Barreto, co-founder of Latino Decisions who oversaw the poll: “This is the most unified we have ever seen Latino public opinion on any issue.  Whether you look at Democrats or Republicans, Foreign-born or U.S.-born, or 4th-generation college educated respondents, Latino voters are universally supporting this decisions by President Obama.”

The Latino Decisions study also showed that if Congress fails to pass immigration reform legislation, 73 percent of Latino voters surveyed said they want to see more presidential executive action to protect additional immigrants.  Survey toplines available here, and presentation slide deck available here.

The poll was commissioned by Latino non-partisan civic groups Presente.org, National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities, and Mi Familia Vota.

Statement by Arturo Carmona, Executive Director of Presente.org

“Republicans don’t realize that this was not a victory for President Obama and the Democrats.  This was a resounding victory for the grassroots, for immigrants and Latino families.  And this poll sends a powerful message to Congress from Latino voters.  Either do your job, legislate humane reform for all 11 million undocumented immigrants or we will continue to fight for more executive actions that finish the deal.  With the community behind us, as attested by 89% of Latinos polled, we will stand in unity and do anything within our power to defend current and future executive actions that protect the undocumented community.”

Statement by Ben Monterroso, Executive Director of Mi Familia Vota

“The president’s decision is supported by almost 9 out of 10 Latino voters. This is the most united Latino voters have been on any issue during the Obama years. We will work hard to defend the gains that our movement has made with the president’s decision. We will make sure that our community learns how to apply for the new program. We will make sure they know who is trying to block it. And we will take those names to the voters in 2016. Congress can pass a comprehensive immigration bill that meets the needs of Latinos and immigrant communities, or it can suffer the consequences in 2016. It’s as simple as that.”

Statement by Oscar Chacon, Executive Director of NALACC

“Not only did this poll find overwhelming support by Latino voters for the executive action on immigration announced by President Obama last week, but it also found that immigration issues are close and personal to them, with 64% of respondents reporting a personal relationship with someone who lacks immigration authorization.  Latino voters now want the US Congress to do the right thing on immigration policy, but 73% would also support President Obama to continue to take executive actions in this area, if Congress fails to do so.  Looking forward to elections in 2016, this poll also shows that Latino voters will look favorably on candidates ready to support humane, practical and bold solutions geared to providing immigration status for immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization.”

This article was originally published in Latino Decisions.