Poll finds broad support for new sanctuary state law

SACRAMENTO — More than 50 percent of Californians favor a new sanctuary state law to shield people from deportation, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.

This year, California officials and the Trump administration have squared off over the sanctuary state law, which takes effect in January and greatly limits who state and local law enforcement agencies can hold, question and transfer at the request of federal immigration authorities.

The law was part of an effort by majority Democrats in the California Legislature to shield more than 2.3 million immigrants living illegally in the state from President Trump’s expanded immigration enforcement orders. It has drawn sharp rebuke from Trump officials, making it a focus of a national debate over how far states and cities can go to prevent their officers from enforcing federal immigration laws.

But in California, the law appears to have wide approval. The poll surveyed 1,504 eligible voters in California from Oct. 27 to Nov. 6. Of those respondents, 53 percent favored the legislation, with 31 percent in strong support. Nearly 29 percent opposed the law — 18 percent did so strongly.

Despite the Trump administration’s repeated attempts to frame illegal immigration as a threat to public safety, the poll also found an overwhelming majority believe that people without legal residency in the country help revitalize cities as opposed to increasing crime.

The survey results, analysts said, reflect trends in California, where the public has tended to support immigrants in the country illegally, even when federal or state political leaders have stoked anti-immigrant sentiment.

“We have seen this in California forever,” said Jill Darling, the survey director for the Center for Economic and Social Research at the University of Southern California. “People, including Republicans, have been more supportive of immigrants and reform, even to the point of supporting a path to citizenship, more so than Republican leadership.”

Most poll participants also expressed positive perceptions of people without legal residency in the country. Nearly 63 percent of people surveyed said they believed immigrants without legal status strengthened the economy, as opposed to roughly 38 percent who said they took away jobs.