Brewer touts pro-SB 1070 poll, ignores faulty wording

Posted Apr 23, 2012

Dylan Smith
TucsonSentinel.com

Will Seberger/TucsonSentinel.comBrewer attended a Tucson interfaith service on the first anniversary of the Safeway shooting that killed six and wounded 13.

Gov. Jan Brewer touted Monday a Fox News survey that showed national support for SB 1070, but overlooked a poll question that misstated the law's effect.

As Arizona's controversial immigration law heads to the U.S. Supreme Court this week, Brewer cited the poll, which found 65 percent of Americans surveyed favoring SB 1070.

"I know we are not alone. The people of America stand with us," Brewer said in a press release, saying that support for the law is "crystal clear."

31 percent of those polled opposed the law, according to a Friday news release from Fox.

Brewer said Monday that support for SB 1070 "is up 15 points from when the pollster last checked in summer 2010 – meaning that the more people learn about SB 1070, the more they like it."

But not only was Fox's question different in that latest survey, done April 9-11, than it was last year, but it misstated the effect of the law.

In 2010, Fox asked "Based on what you know, do you favor or oppose Arizona's new immigration law?"

In the new poll, the question was "In 2010, Arizona passed an immigration law that requires people to show documents proving their immigration status if government officials have reasonable cause to ask for them and allows police to detain anyone who cannot prove their immigration status. Do you favor or oppose this law?"

SB 1070 was struck down in 1070 by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton in part because, more than merely allow, it requires police to detain those who cannot prove their immigration status.

Also, further than allowing government officials to ask for immigration documents based on reasonable cause, SB 1070 would require that police determine the status of anyone who is arrested.

A separate question posed by Fox had the same 65/31 percent breakdown: "Do you believe individual states should have the right to make their own immigration laws and protect their borders, if they believe the federal government has failed to act, or not?"

That question will be at the heart of the case when it is argued before the high court, beginning Wednesday.

The Constitution provides Congress with the power "to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization" (Article 1, Section 8). The federal government will argue that power precludes states from enforcing their own separate immigration laws.