Journal Poll: How do voters feel about Albuquerque's sanctuary city status?

A slim majority of Albuquerque residents support the city’s 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.

“This issue is a very partisan issue. It’s one where party affiliation, political philosophy and how you feel about the mayor strongly correlates with your opinions or support levels on this issue,” said Brian Sanderoff, the president of Albuquerque-based Research & Polling Inc., which conducted the poll.

Albuquerque’s status as a sanctuary city has made headlines over the summer and has become an increasingly prevalent issue in the upcoming mayoral race.

In July, Mayor Tim Keller — who is vying to become the first Albuquerque mayor to serve three consecutive terms — signed an executive order codifying the city’s 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, “The 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.”

Who supports it?

Among those who consider themselves conservative, 73% said they opposed the city’s sanctuary status — an identical percentage of those who identify as liberal expressed support.

Additionally, approval of the mayor — a Democrat — provided another stark contrast in how participants responded: 67% of respondents who approve of the mayor’s work supported the local policy, while 58% of those who disapprove opposed it.

“People who approve of the mayor’s job performance are much more likely to support the mayor’s policy,” Sanderoff said.

Among those who support the mayor’s policy, 54% of women surveyed expressed support, while 46% of male respondents opposed it.

“Women in Albuquerque are more likely to be registered as Democrats and more likely to be liberal than are men,” Sanderoff said. “And women are more likely to be more progressive on social issues than men.”

Age also influenced people’s 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 “very familiar,” 46% said they were “somewhat familiar” 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.

“We 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,” Sanderoff said. “Those who are paying more attention to the issue are more likely to be opposed.”

For those who said they were “somewhat familiar,” 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.