The vast majority of Latinos support President Barack Obama's executive order granting temporary legal status to up to 5 million unauthorized immigrants, according to a new Latino Decisions poll.
The poll found that 89 percent of Latino voters back Obama's action, including 85 percent of Latino independents and 76 percent of Latino Republicans.
Latinos' robust support for Obama's action provides a boon for Democrats just weeks after many Latino voters abandoned the party in the midterm elections. Just 63 percent of Latino voters supported Democratic candidates in this month's midterm elections, compared with 71 percent of Latino voters who pulled the lever for Obama in 2012.
While the midterm results indicated that Republicans can make inroads among the nation's growing Latino population, the Latino Decisions poll underscored the risks for the GOP in its reaction to Obama's executive order.
Eighty percent of voters and 60 percent of Latino Republicans in the poll said the GOP should not attempt to defund the executive order, as some Republicans have proposed.
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