Poll: Public split on DREAM Act, Rubio alternative

The instinct to control the border is apparent in support for some of the controversial elements of the Arizona statute, over which the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in April. Some 57 percent in the poll said they supported the provision allowing “police to question anyone who they think may be in the country illegally.” Likewise, 68 percent said that they support the provision requiring “people to produce documents verifying their legal status if police ask for them.” Both of these provisions drew majority support not only from whites, but also from African-Americans (though support among the latter lagged slightly). Strong majorities of Republicans and independents backed both ideas as well, and nearly three-fifths of Democrats supported allowing police to ask for papers (though a slight majority of Democrats opposed police stops of suspected illegal immigrants). Both younger and older whites liked the two provisions. Only Hispanics broke against both ideas (the survey included too few Hispanics to report their responses in granular detail)…

The question did not identify the partisan sponsors, but the first option summarizes the Democrats’ existing Dream Act, and the second, the alternative that Republican star Rubio is drafting. Democrats strongly preferred the first option, while independents did so narrowly, and Republicans split almost evenly between the two. Hispanics heavily preferred the Democratic option, which also drew support from a slight majority of African-Americans and a narrow plurality of whites. Only one-in-10 of those polled (and even just one-in-seven Republicans) said that those young people should not be allowed to remain here. Similarly, just 17 percent said that the government should deport all of the illegal immigrants here “no matter how long” they have lived in the country; that’s down from 25 percent last December.