Poll: Durbin DREAM Act more popular than Rubio alternative

By Daniel Strauss - 06/08/12 11:15 AM ET

Hispanics prefer Sen. Dick Durbin's (D-Ill.) DREAM Act to an alternative proposed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), according to a new poll.

According to the Latino Decisions poll, 82 percent of Hispanics prefer Durbin's Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which provides a pathway to citizenship for the children of immigrants living in the country illegally provided they have demonstrated good moral character and are either working toward completing a college degree or are serving in the armed forces. Rubio's alternative proposal provides non-immigrant visas for those same children of illegal immigrants but does not provide a pathway to citizenship.

Rubio is crafting his proposal currently and hopes to have something on paper by the end of the summer.

The poll found that 13 percent of Hispanics surveyed prefer Rubio's proposal to Durbin's. Sixty-one percent of non-Hispanics surveyed by the Latino Decisions poll support Durbin's proposal, and 27 percent prefer Rubio's proposal.

Democrats — including Durbin — have signaled a willingness to work with Rubio to pass some kind of immigration reform legislation along the lines of the DREAM Act, but it's unclear how legislators would compromise over the pathway to citizenship provision — over which Republicans have stressed strong opposition. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has also expressed pessimism about the bill becoming law this year.

Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) has also introduced another alternative to Durbin's DREAM Act in the House of Representatives. Rivera's bill would grant non-immigrant status to the children of illegal immigrants living in the United States illegally provided they entered the country before they were 16 and lived in the country for five consecutive years. Like Durbin's proposal, Rivera's legislation also requires pursuit of a four-year college degree. Rubio has said he prefers his version to both Durbin's and Rivera's.

Political observers have suggested that the proposal by Rubio, who's regularly listed near the top of short-lists for the vice presidential spot on the 2012 Republican presidential ticket, is an effort to win over Hispanic voters. Mitt Romney has not endorsed Rubio's proposal but he's said he's examining it and that it has "many features to commend."

The poll was conducted between May 24 and June 4 among 609 adult Hispanics and 500 non-Hispanics. It had a margin of error of 3.9 percent for Hispanics and 4.4 percent among non-Hispanics.