LatinaLista — Though Romney was only echoing his base when he declared that he would rescind DACA – the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a new Election Day poll shows that not everyone in his base agreed with his intention.
According to the poll, a “substantial” number of Republicans support DACA.
While Democrats are the most likely to favor this policy (75%) a majority of Independents (60%) and a substantial number of Republicans (35%) also favor Obama’s decision.
The polling illustrated something that Latino pundits suspected would happen in the election — it boosted support for Obama among Latinos, in spite of his broken promises on getting immigration reform passed.
Of voters who say Obama’s new policy was the single most important issue in determining their vote,
75% favor the policy. Latinos, Democratic and black women, older voters, and those who live in New
England are most likely to say Obama’s policy was either the single most important or very important
issue to their voting decision. Of voters who oppose the policy, only 5% say it was the single most
important issue determining their vote. Overall, 4% of voters say immigration was the most important
issue in deciding their vote for President.Digging deeper into the subgroups, we find that the gender gap is actually driven by Republicans, as a
majority of Republican men oppose Obama’s policy compared to 38% of Republican women. White
women are also slightly more favorable toward the policy compared to white men, while for Latinos,
women drive the intensity of support.
Though the pollsters don’t say this, from anecdotal conversations, DACA was seen by most people as a humanitarian issue rather than a political policy because it concerned children. Denying them a legal place in this country when they had no control over their destiny as young arrivals was seen as abusive and mean-spirited — and the opposite of not just what America stood for but what compassionate human beings expect from their government.
