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Poll of Tennessee Voters Shows Strong Support for Immigration Reform

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In Washington, there’s been woefully little progress on solving the problems associated with unauthorized immigration. We got further proof today.  Even in a reliably red state, like Tennessee, there’s strong support for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.  From The Tennessean:

Tennesseans have mixed opinions about immigration, with a majority saying foreigners have become a burden to the United States while opposing a crackdown that would send illegal immigrants back to their home countries.

About 70 percent of Tennesseans believe immigrants take jobs from American citizens and use up tax dollars, according to a statewide poll by Vanderbilt University.

More than 60 percent said they favor giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship rather than arresting them and forcing them to leave. Most Tennesseans also said they support granting citizenship to all children born on U.S. soil, regardless of where their parents are from, a principle often referred to as birthright citizenship.

The results suggest that even as they hold negative views about the recent wave of immigration to the United States, many Tennesseans do not support extraordinary measures to remove people who are in the country illegally.

Voters in Tennessee see a problem – and want a solution. That’s not a surprise to us. In fact, It’s remarkably consistent with several nationwide polls we’ve seen over the past several years as you can see here, here and here.

The American people are way ahead of their politicians on the issue of immigration reform. And, it’s clear that the voters in Tennessee and across the country soundly reject the mass deportation “solution” espoused by Representatives Lamar Smith (R-TX), Elton Gallegly (R-CA) and the notorious Steve King (R-IA).