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Majority of Arizonans Support DREAM Act
Photo by Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez
Daniela Cruz, an undocumented student who supports the DREAM Act, spoke at an opposition protest of Arizona's SB 1070 on Wednesday in Phoenix.
The DREAM Act, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who get a college degree or serve in the military, has been a subject of debate for more than a decade. The latest Merrill/Morrison Institute Poll from Arizona State University found 73 percent of registered voters in Arizona either support or strongly support the act.
That may be surprising, since previous polling showed around three quarters of Arizonans want more border enforcement, and 60 percent of Arizonans support SB 1070. But associate poll director Tara Blanc wasn’t surprised by the support for the DREAM Act.
"There is no question that voters want the borders tightened, that they want the flow of illegal immigrants to stop," Blanc said. "But on the other hand, it’s also clear to us that the majority of people see that there’s more than one part to it. And part of the issue is, what do we do about people who are already here?"
While voters who identified as Latino and/or Democrat tended to favor the act most strongly, the poll found broad support across ethnicities and political parties.