News

Poll: Nevadans back Arizona law on illegal immigration

By LYNNETTE CURTIS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Jun. 8, 2010 | 12:00 a.m.

A majority of Nevadans would welcome an Arizona-style law to crack down on illegal immigrants, according to a new poll commissioned by the Review-Journal.

The survey showed 57 percent of Nevadans would support giving local law enforcement the power to ask people already stopped for possible violations of the law to show proof they are in the country legally, then arrest those who couldn't provide that proof.

Thirty-two percent of Nevadans said they would oppose such a law, while 11 percent were undecided.

The telephone poll of 625 registered Nevada voters June 1-3 by Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research mirrors recent polls nationwide. Its margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The controversial Arizona law, slated to take effect in the summer, has fueled nationwide debate and helped renew interest in the contentious issue of comprehensive immigration reform.

"It could have just stayed in Arizona, but people have turned it into a national issue," said Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon. "People are boycotting the state. People in the (Obama) administration have been criticizing the law. It has become a passionate issue."

Supporters say the law is necessary to protect Arizonans from crimes committed by illegal immigrants, and that the federal government has failed to enforce immigration laws. Critics say the law could lead to racial profiling and make people afraid to report crimes. They say immigration enforcement should remain a federal responsibility. Several federal lawsuits against the law have been filed.

People on both sides of the issue have protested in Arizona and elsewhere.

Nevada Democrats and Republicans differ widely on the issue, according to the poll. Just 31 percent of Democrats said they would support a similar law here, while 85 percent of Republicans said they would. The poll did not break down the results in terms of respondents' ethnic backgrounds. In other polls, a majority of Hispanics have said they oppose the law, Coker said.

Most Republicans in the hotly contested U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races have said Arizona was right to pass the law because the federal government hasn't done a good job securing the U.S.-Mexico border and preventing people from coming across illegally.

U.S. Senate Republican candidate Chad Christensen even launched an initiative petition asking voters to approve an Arizona-like law.

Christensen said he has long advocated cracking down on illegal immigrants, but "there wasn't much of an audience for it until Arizona passed its law."

Before, "people didn't seem concerned enough" to move such measures along, he said Monday.

Now, people are saying, ' "wow, we don't have to wait for the federal government. We can do this as a state,' " he said.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., believes the Arizona law "is a perfect example of why we need comprehensive immigration reform," Jon Summers, a Reid spokesman, said Monday.

Such reform remains a priority for Reid, Summers said, "but it is going to take support from Republicans to get it done."

Michael Flores, Southern Nevada's director of Reform Immigration for America, said the appropriate place to address any "tough enforcement" of immigration laws is in federal immigration reform, which groups such as his have long advocated.

"There is some middle ground," Flores said.

He added that he opposes Arizona's law because of profiling concerns and because he believes it will harm relationships between law enforcement and the community.

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@review journal.com.

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  1. v. Jun. 22, 2010 | 10:57 p.m. Report Abuse

    @xochitl..

    The supreme court has ruled that the Sheriff of any county in the union has the highest law enforcement power, which includes any federal agency or federal agent. Ever heard of state's rights? Think Arizona can't break away from the union? So, Sheriff Joe doesn't need to listen to any federal objection. Also, the governor backs his decisions. If Brewer was smart, she would throw away the u.s. dollar and start a new currency backed by a precious metal. Also, invoke states rights. Obozo would be in a tail spin on what to do.

  2. bot_feeder Jun. 10, 2010 | 8:33 a.m. Report Abuse

    Note that the leftist buffoons have virtually all crawled back under their rocks with regard to immigration policy. You see very few advocating for the fradulent "Comprehensive" reform anymore or spewing their Brown Supremacist hatred.

    They are on the run. They probably hope there will be a time in the future when they can crawl back out from under their rocks and resume their effort to demolish the US. But they know that right now any activism on their part only exposes them to further ridicule.

  3. PortTabacco Jun. 9, 2010 | 3:05 p.m. Report Abuse

    Illegal alien burns elderly woman alive!

    http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=117083

    This Aztec worked for the lady and placed extra 0's on her check.
    Wonderful culture.

  4. PortTabacco Jun. 9, 2010 | 3:03 p.m. Report Abuse

    Mexicans get the heck home. We don't want you here. You have a country and homeland.

  5. Darrin Jun. 8, 2010 | 10:40 p.m. Report Abuse

    You have to ask yourself, why is it that so many government officials gave denied that they have read the new Arizona immigration law.

    The answer?

    DENIABILTY

    Later, when all hell breaks loose, they can say that the law should have been enforced.

  6. joezitti@yahoo.com Jun. 8, 2010 | 10:02 p.m. Report Abuse

    I would vote for it to.

  7. RightWingExtremist Jun. 8, 2010 | 8:30 p.m. Report Abuse

    Of course many Nevadans support the Arizona law. All it does is mirror existing federal law, which isn't being enforced by the feds. Those in the Obozo administration voicing objections to it were outed as not having read Arizona's law, making them the biggest hypocrites in this country.

  8. Dave Jun. 8, 2010 | 4:38 p.m. Report Abuse

    "For the race everything, outside the race nothing"

    Which hate group lives by this saying?

    I'll give you a clue, they support open borders and claim that any and ALL law enforcement (local, state, or Federal) efforts to stop illegal immigration are "racist"....

  9. Joe C Jun. 8, 2010 | 4:37 p.m. Report Abuse

    The words on our Statue of Liberty are not written in our constitution. But an ideal that we still hold true since in the last forty years 39% of our, POPULATION GROWTH, has been from immigration, legal and illegal.
    No where on the statue of liberty can someone construe the meaning of those words on the statue to mean for the U.S. to accept mass immigration without limits and it’s the illegal immigrants that decide the numbers not the country and its citizens.
    Like everything else the criminals are exploiting, our freedoms our laws, our civil right, everything this country stands for with cons and deception.
    It is truly criminal and traitorous. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Read or listen to the words from the founders of LA RAZA, MALDEF Brown Berets, MECha and hear the hate and racism.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/hispanicleaders.asp

  10. Joe C Jun. 8, 2010 | 4:25 p.m. Report Abuse

    The confused and the Know Nothings are those that somehow feel those opposing an invading entity into this country is an infringement of the civil rights of the invaders????????????????? Wrong!!!!!-----------------------------------------------
    Our constitution also calls for the federal government to enforce and secure our borders and it really doesn’t seem too many, that our government is upholding its responsibility, which is a infringement against our civil rights.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Those supporting the invasion and amnesty seem to pick and chose constitutional laws demanding one law be respected and others dismissed.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Comparing citizens rights to those invading is ridiculous, slavery compared to illegal invaders LOL. Especially when those that fought for civil rights and opportunity during the sixties are losing their jobs to an selfish uncaring invading force.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Illegal immigration has caused more loss to the black community than the years of institutionalized racism. Actually illegal aliens and their supporters are as guilty of segregation and subjugation as those responsible for institutionalized racism years ago.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Rosa Parks would now have to fight to keep her seat and not be shoved aside by overwhelming numbers of illegals.-----------------------------------------------------Arizona has again proved the most cost saving and effective manner to end the illegal invasion is ENFORCEMENT and SECURED BORDERS, ALONG WITH JOB ENFORCEMENT. Est 100,000 illegal aliens have already fled. Everything else pales and costs would skyrocket with amnesty and path to citizenship.

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