By Sarina Trangle
Despite Democrats in Albany pushing for the Dream Act, a new poll found that a majority of New Yorkers do not share the legislators’ fantasy.
A Siena College poll released Monday shows that 56 percent of voters oppose the measure, which would authorize undocumented students who graduate from high school in New York to apply for college financial aid.
After sailing through the state Assembly, the bill came two votes shy of passing in the state Senate last week. Its proponents have since been urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders to attach the bill to the state budget.
“Although it passed the Assembly and narrowly failed in the Senate, support for the Dream Act is actually down from last year when opposition was only nine points higher than support,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a press release.
Support fell along party lines, with a majority of Democrats backing the Dream Act, a stronger majority of independents opposing it and more than 80 percent of Republicans disapproving of the bill.
The Siena College poll found that a small majority of city voters support the legislation, while suburban and upstate residents did not.
White voters opposed the measure 2-1, while a majority of Latinos and blacks approved of it.
