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Journal Poll: How do voters feel about Albuquerque's sanctuary city status?
A slim majority of Albuquerque residents support the city鈥檚 immigrant-friendly policy, a new Journal Poll found.
A total of 51% of voters surveyed said they support a policy that bars city departments from assisting in enforcing federal immigration laws. By contrast, 40% of those surveyed opposed the local ordinance.
鈥淭his issue is a very partisan issue. It鈥檚 one where party affiliation, political philosophy and how you feel about the mayor strongly correlates with your opinions or support levels on this issue,鈥 said Brian Sanderoff, the president of Albuquerque-based Research & Polling Inc., which conducted the poll.
础濒产耻辩耻别谤辩耻别鈥檚 has made headlines over the summer and has become an increasingly prevalent issue in the upcoming mayoral race.
In July, Mayor Tim Keller 鈥 who is vying to become the first Albuquerque mayor to serve three consecutive terms 鈥 signed an executive order codifying the city鈥檚 status as immigrant-friendly. Additionally, he created a line for residents to call city police to find out if immigration agents are operating in their neighborhood.
The following month, the Department of Justice labeled Albuquerque a sanctuary city among 18 other cities. In a news release, Attorney General Pam Bondi said, 鈥淭he Department of Justice will continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions and work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country.鈥
Who supports it?
Among those who consider themselves conservative, 73% said they opposed the city鈥檚 sanctuary status 鈥 an identical percentage of those who identify as liberal expressed support.
Additionally, approval of the mayor 鈥 a Democrat 鈥 provided another stark contrast in how participants responded: 67% of respondents who approve of the mayor鈥檚 work supported the local policy, while 58% of those who disapprove opposed it.
鈥淧eople who approve of the mayor鈥檚 job performance are much more likely to support the mayor鈥檚 policy,鈥 Sanderoff said.
Among those who support the mayor鈥檚 policy, 54% of women surveyed expressed support, while 46% of male respondents opposed it.
鈥淲omen in Albuquerque are more likely to be registered as Democrats and more likely to be liberal than are men,鈥 Sanderoff said. 鈥淎nd women are more likely to be more progressive on social issues than men.鈥
Age also influenced people鈥檚 opinions on the issue, with 49% of seniors surveyed opposed to the ordinance, while 61% of those 18 to 34 years old expressed approval.
Familiarity
In a separate poll question, voters were asked how familiar they were with the policy. Some 25% of respondents said they were 鈥渧ery familiar,鈥 46% said they were 鈥渟omewhat familiar鈥 and 28% said they were not.
However, among those who were very familiar, 51% opposed the local law, and 48% supported it. Only 1% of those very familiar said they were unsure.
鈥淲e do see that Republicans, conservatives, men and those who disapprove of the mayor are more likely to be very familiar with it in the first place,鈥 Sanderoff said. 鈥淭hose who are paying more attention to the issue are more likely to be opposed.鈥
For those who said they were 鈥渟omewhat familiar,鈥 56% said they supported the sanctuary status, while 36% opposed.
Methodology
The Journal Poll is based on a random sample of 514 voters who cast ballots in the 2021 and/or 2023 local government election, and a sample of adults who registered to vote since January 2024 and who said they are likely to vote in the upcoming local government election.
To ensure a representative sample, Research & Polling Inc. sets quotas for race, gender, and age, and weights by education level and party affiliation, if necessary, based on traditional voting patterns in local government elections.
The poll was conducted Sept. 19 through Sept. 26. The voter sample size of 514 has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points. The margin of error grows for subsamples.
All interviews were conducted by live, professional interviewers, based in Albuquerque, with multiple callbacks to individuals who did not initially answer the phone.
Both cellphone numbers (96%) and landlines (4%) of likely voters were used.