78% of Arizonans favor path to citizenship for undocumented

Arizonans overwhelmingly favor a comprehensive approach to immigration policies – secure borders and enforcement, coupled with a possible pathway to citizenship for undocumented residents, according to a new statewide poll by Dr. Bruce Merrill and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy.

Seventy-eight percent of Arizonans surveyed said they would support legislation for undocumented longtime residents to become citizens if they pay a fine, pass a criminal background check here and their nation of origin, get a taxpayer I.D. number and demonstrate they can speak English.

Such a position is in stark contrast to hard-line stances held by many state leaders, including Senate President Russell Pearce, the face and force behind Arizona's aggressive anti-illegal-immigration politics, including SB 1070. Pearce lost a historic recall election Tuesday to challenger Jerry Lewis, whose campaign included a more moderate approach to immigration issues than his fellow Mesa Republican.

"The issue of illegal immigration is much more complex than most people realize," said Merrill, senior research fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute and the poll director.

"People see the issues of border enforcement and what to do about undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for many years, many with children who are American citizens, as separate issues. This poll shows that while almost all Arizonans want stronger enforcement of border security, people also are strongly in favor of some sort of earned citizenship program."

That position is underscored by the fact illegal immigration was listed in the poll among the top problems – along with jobs and education – facing the governor and Legislature.

Full results of the statewide poll, which covered issues ranging from sales tax to election reform to education funding, will be released Nov. 30 in Phoenix at the Morrison Institute's State of Our State Conference.

In the poll, immigration policies that would include possible citizenship were supported most by young people, Hispanics, women, college graduates and registered Democrats and Independents (ranging from 84 percent to 89 percent, depending on individual group). However, more than 66 percent of registered Republicans also supported that approach.

"While the immigration issue has been characterized as a partisan one, these findings indicate that it is less so than most have believed," said Dr. David Daugherty, director of research at Morrison Institute.

"Clearly when given details about a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, the majority of citizens are amenable to it. Part of the lesson from these findings is that increased information and greater detail – as stated in the poll question itself – can serve to moderate opinions," Daugherty added.

The statewide poll of adult heads of households was conducted Oct. 4 to 11. Fifty-nine percent of the 600 telephone interviews were conducted in Maricopa County, 17 percent in Pima County and 24 percent in Arizona's other counties. Forty-nine percent of the voters interviewed were men; 51 percent were women. The sample was selected so as to include representative numbers of cell phone users and Hispanics. The sampling error for the statewide sample survey is plus or minus 4.0 percent.