Arizona voters overwhelmingly support a pathway to citizenship for some immigrants who meet some conditions for eligibility, according to a poll released Wednesday.
By Laura Gomez / Arizona Mirror
The survey of 323 Arizona voters between Sept. 10 and 18 found broad support, even among Trump voters, for “earned citizenship” for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children (often called dreamers), farmworkers, essential workers and those with Temporary Protected Status. Earned citizenship is a term that broadly means naturalization that is granted after immigrants pay a fine, pass language tests or other meet requirements to comply with eligibility.
It comes as Democrats in Congress struggle to pass a pathway for citizenship for millions, but not all, undocumented immigrants through the budget reconciliation process.
The poll was commissioned by the American Business Immigration Coalition and FWD.us, an immigration and criminal justice reform advocacy group, and released during a press call. The survey was conducted by Democratic polling firm BSP Research and Republican firm Shaw & Company Research. Arizona was one of 11 battleground states polled.
Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., spoke at the press event. He said Arizona is home to an estimated 170,000 undocumented residents who are dreamers, farmworkers and TPS holders.
“This survey confirms that there is bipartisan support for pathways toward legalization for certain undocumented persons, in Arizona and throughout the United States. With the Senate parliamentarian’s recent ruling excluding immigration reform from the budget reconciliation, this should put Congressional Democrats on notice that legislation toward legalization for groups such as Dreamers, farmworkers, and first responders should be a top agenda item heading into next years election cycle”.
Darius Amiri, Chairman of Rose Law Group Immigration Dept.
