Poll: Immigration could help Democrats in November in key states

Axios poll shows that most voters in 9 states won by Trump in 2016 support DACA protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Univision

12 Mar 2018 – 03:18 PM EDT

FILE- In this Aug. 15, 2017, file photo, a woman holds up a signs in support of the Obama administration program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, during an immigration reform rally at the White House in Washington. After months of delays, President Donald Trump is expected to decide soon on the fate of so called “dreamers” who were brought into the country illegally as children as he faces a looming court deadline and is digging in on appeals to his base. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Crédito: AP

The Immigration issue could help Democrats in November’s midterm election, according to a new Axios poll which looked at ten states that voted Republican in 2016 and have Democratic senators up for reelection this year.

The poll shows that most voters in nine out of the ten states support DACA protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Majorities in every state think that undocumented immigrants working in the U.S. should be given a pathway to citizenship, the poll also found.

For example, in Florida 68% of voters support DACA protections, while only 29% oppose it. This could hurt Republican hopes to unseat Democrat Bill Nelson who is a strong immigrant advocate. Similar margins exist in Wisconsin, Pennysylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Missouro, and Ohio. The issue could possibly be a factor in Pennsylvania's closely watched 18th district election special congressional election on Tuesday. In Montana the margin is 57%-41% and West Virginia 56%-40%. Only in heavily Republican North Dakota, which Trump won by 36 points was opinion unfavorable for DACA (48%-51%).

Analysts note that Democrats only need to pick up two seats to regain control of the Senate. “If they win even just two of those states, Republicans can kiss their majority goodbye,” wrotes Ali Nooranii, Ali Noorani is the executive director of the National Immigration Forum.

The problem for the Trump administration is that its anti-immigrant message “is also being heard by suburban voters in swing House districts nationwide — the very people in the very districts who are poised to flip the House back to Democratic control ,” Noorani wrote in an opinion column for The Hill.

Majorities in every state think that undocumented immigrants working in the U.S. should be given a pathway to citizenship, according to the Axios/SurveyMonkey polls.

The poll appears to confirm other research that has shown that most Americans blame Republicans more than Democrats for not finding a solution to protect the so-called Dreamers.

Most of the states polled have fairly low levels of immigrants and Pew Research found that voter priorities were jobs, the economy, national security/terrorism and health care.

The online polls were conducted February 12- March 5, 2018 among a total sample of 17,289 registered voters living in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana, West Virginia, Montana, North Dakota.immigration