Georgia poll supports immigration reform – Atlanta Business Chronicle

Georgia voters strongly support immigration reform legislation now before the U.S. Senate, according to a telephone poll released Thursday by a coalition of immigration reform advocates.

Sixty-one percent of 562 likely voters surveyed June 5-7 using computerized interactive voice-response technology said they “strongly support” or “somewhat support” a bill being pushed by the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” in the Senate.

Seventy-eight percent of the respondents said they would strongly or somewhat support an immigration reform plan requiring “undocumented immigrants” to the U.S. to pay a penalty, learn English, pass a criminal background check, pay taxes and wait at least 13 years before becoming eligible for citizenship.

“It does not surprise me that the people of Georgia overwhelmingly agree that it is time for a real, lasting solution to our broken immigration system,” said former state Sen. Sam Zamarripa, one of the first Latinos elected to the General Assembly now serving as co-president of The Essential Economy, a bipartisan research organization.

via Georgia poll supports immigration reform – Atlanta Business Chronicle.