Poll: Voters in Maine Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform

Public backs elected officials who vote for Senate immigration bill
 
As debate on the bipartisan immigration bill gets underway in the Senate, the Maine People’s Alliance, joined by the Maine Chamber of Commerce and the Maine AFL-CIO, released the results of a new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling showing overwhelming public support for comprehensive immigration reform in Maine.
 
When asked whether they would support a bipartisan immigration reform bill that includes a pathway to citizenship, 70% of respondents indicated support for the legislation. In addition, almost 60% of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for an elected official who voted for immigration reform.

“The results of this statewide poll are another indication to our elected officials in Washington that their constituents want a real and lasting solution to fix our broken immigration system,” said Kevin Simowitz of the Maine People’s Alliance. “Comprehensive immigration reform is both good politics and good policy and attracts support from all over the political spectrum. This poll shows strong, bipartisan support for the Senate bill that includes a path to citizenship.”

Simowitz was joined by representatives from Maine’s labor and business communities who reflected on the polling results and discussed the importance of immigration reform in Maine.

“This is an issue that should not divide any of us in the state of Maine,” said Dana Connors, President of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. “I have found that there are two things that unite all of us in our state: our people and our economy. Both the polling and recent publicity around the immigration issue brings to the light the common interest in helping people and helping the economy. We are all reflections of our families who were once a part of the immigrant community, and we are here today because the state and the nation opened their arms to them.”

“We support immigration reform because, at the core, this is a workers’ rights issue. We must level the playing field for hard workers and honest employers,” said Don Berry, President of the Maine AFL-CIO. “America works best when we do our part to solve the problems we have in this nation. This bill has real reform that will fix a broken system.”
 
The poll was conducted by Public Policy Polling from June 3-4, and surveyed 501 Maine voters (margin of error). Public Policy Polling has been lauded for their accuracy polling in the 2012 presidential race and other elections across the country. The poll was sponsored by the Alliance for Citizenship, Partnership for a New American Economy and Republicans for Immigration Reform.
 
Full results can be found here: http://bit.ly/12pTp5r