Schultheis to Polis on Arizona law: Give the people what they want

Anti-illegal immigration firebrand and state senator Dave Schultheis blogged on Arizona SB 1070 over the Memorial Day weekend, delivering a partisan stinger that was picked up as an op-ed by his hometown newspaper, the Colorado Springs Gazette. The American people love Arizona’s tough new immigration law, he wrote, citing polling data. So why does “Boulder liberal” U.S. Rep Jared Polis hate the law? Schultheis’s answer is that Polis and his ilk are “disconnected” from the American people and that further evidence of that disconnect is that Polis supports federal reform that would grant amnesty to illegals.

Legal Americans resent “amnesty” as unfair because it would allow illegals to “cut to the front of the line” and take jobs, Schultheis writes. “Polis should remember that as he and his Democratic colleagues prepare to face the electorate…” Schultheis is warning off lawmakers from any coming immigration reform plan. Except the same kind of polling data Schultheis cites in his blog demonstrates that an overwhelming majority of Americans– including a wide majority of those who support SB 1070– support federal immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship.

Sen. Dave Schultheis

A survey of 800 registered voters nationwide sponsored by America’s Voice Education Fund and conducted by Lake Research Partners and Public Opinion Strategies found that 78 percent of all voters supported comprehensive immigration reform and that 84 percent of those voters who supported SB 1070 also supported comprehensive immigration reform, according to Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice.

Schultheis and Sharry offer dueling blogs:

Schultheis:

While it might come as a shock to Democrats — such as Boulder liberal and U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., most of America is applauding Arizona for taking control of illegal immigration within its borders…

According to a poll conducted by NBC and the Wall Street Journal… 64 percent of all adults support Arizona’s new immigration law.

And it’s not just Republicans who think this is a good idea. Half of all Democrats polled say they support the law and two-thirds of Independents polled support it.

To further demonstrate his disconnect with the American people, Polis has thrown his support behind an “immigration reform” proposal that is supported by the likes of Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Charles Schumer, D-New York.

“If (illegal immigrants) obey our laws, learn our language and pay our taxes, we will welcome (them) to American,” Polis wrote in an editorial.

Polis can call it “comprehensive reform” all he wants. He can dress it up and call it whatever he chooses. But any proposal that allows people who are here illegally to cut to the front of the line is amnesty.

We are in a major recession, and we need all the jobs we can get for Colorado citizens and those who reside in Colorado legally. Polis should remember that as he and his Democratic colleagues prepare to face an electorate that is sensitive to job losses.

Sharry:

With national polls showing majority support for Arizona’s harsh immigration law, you probably think these voters are hard liners determined to rid the country of immigrants and deny a path to legal status for all of the undocumented immigrants in the U.S., right?

Wrong.

Here’s a shocker: four out of five voters who support Arizona’s new “papers-please” law also support comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented. On the flip side, a paltry one in five support rounding up and deporting everyone here illegally.

we sought to understand the motivations and sentiments underlying the top line support for Arizona’s tough immigration law…

[S]trong majorities believe that illegal immigration is a national problem, prefer comprehensive reform to Arizona-style laws in their state, and want the problem of illegal immigration acted on now….

At the core, voters’ support [of SB 1070] was rooted in frustration with lack of action at the federal level. When we asked voters why they supported Arizona’s law, the number one answer– by a whopping 52% – was that voters believed the federal government had failed to solve the problem. Only 28% said it was because they thought the law would reduce illegal immigration, and only 12% supported it because they thought it would reduce crime.

Furthermore, by a margin of 53% to 18% voters prefer a comprehensive national solution to a version of Arizona’s law in their own state. This is consistent with the finding that voters believe immigration is a national problem appropriately dealt with at a federal level (56%) rather than handled by individual states (22%).

The passage of the Arizona law has not lessened these voters’ appetite for immediate federal action. Three quarters of voters (76%) want action taken now, as opposed to waiting for action, and two thirds (67%) strongly desire action now.

It may or may not be shocking to Polis to learn that most Americans support SB 1070 but Schultheis it seems clear would surely be shocked to learn that, when it comes to federal immigration reform, Americans would like Congress to stop stalling and being scared off by lawmakers shouting “amnesty” and to just do it already: Pass comprehensive immigration reform.


Hat tip to Captain E.L. (El Capitan)

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