As the legal battle rages on between local community leaders and the state of Texas over the new immigration law, residents have provided their proverbial two cents. In spite of the disputed solutions about to become formalized, they still have significant concerns over the state of their state’s soon-to-be immigration policies
According to a University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll conducted between June 2 and June 11, 1,200 registered voters surveyed put immigration and border security at the top of the list of their primary concerns. Approximately one-third of respondents cited one of those issues as their primary concern.
The Texas economy, jobs, education, health care and even political corruption/leadership ranked far below immigration-related matters. Seemingly important issues involving the environment, transportation and taxes received little notice. Unemployment in the state garnered a scant six percent.
Looking at the national picture, twenty-five percent of Texans viewed political corruption/leadership or national security/terrorism as the most important problem facing the United States. Those issues were followed by the national economy, immigration and health care.
As far as the economy, more Texas residents see improvement over the past year than things getting worse. More than half noted that their own economic situation is similar to a year ago. However, 42 percent believe the national economic is better. Thirty-four percent see improvements in the state economy.
In spite of that optimism, 54 percent of Texans who vote see the country headed off on the wrong track while 34 percent see things headed in the right direction. Those same respondents are happier with the direction of their home state with 43 percent hopeful and 40 percent more pessimistic over the state’s direction.
As chaos grows at the capitol with lawsuits coming practically on a daily basis over the controversial Senate Bill 4, Texas leaders tussling over immigration policies should not ignore all the concerns of their electorate.