Poll Shows Arizona Latinos Oppose New Law
LOS ANGELES -- Regardless of political party, ideology, whether they are newly arrived immigrants or fourth generation Arizonans, Latino voters in Arizona are opposed to SB 1070 and believe there will be racial bias in the implementation of the law, La Opinión reports. A survey of Latino voters in Arizona conducted by Latino Decisions, in collaboration with Arizona State University, found that 70 percent expressed "strong" opposition and another 11 percent said they had "some opposition" to SB 1070. Twelve percent of respondents expressed "strong support" and 4 percent "some support" for the new law, which makes it a state crime to be undocumented. The survey was sponsored by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR).
The poll's results contrast with those of a recent poll by Rasmussen that found that the majority of Arizonans support the new legislation. La Opinión reports that this indicates that there is a significant gap between the opinions of the state's majority population and the Latino population.
Eighty-five percent of respondents said they thought that Latino legal permanent residents and U.S. citizens would be arrested because of this law; 72 percent said police would target people because they are Latino; and 76 percent said they believe that if most immigrants in Arizona were white Europeans, this law would not have been approved.
