Obama's deportation policy boosts Latino interest

WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's new immigration policy may give him a boost with Latino voters grown weary of high levels of deportations, a poll says.

A survey of 775 Latino voters in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Virginia found 49 percent were more enthusiastic about Obama after he moved last week to halt deportations and provide work permits to undocumented immigrant youth who attend college or serve in the military. Fourteen percent said they were less enthusiastic, Latino Decisions and America's Voice said Monday.

Prior to Obama's announcement last week, many immigration reform advocates had said the record high level of deportations of immigrants under the Obama administration was causing some Latinos to grow weary of Obama's re-election campaign. In a Latino Decisions/Univision News poll earlier this year, 53 percent of Latino voters said they were less enthusiastic about Obama in 2012 than they had been in 2009, while just 30 percent were more excited about the Democratic president.

The latest poll by Latino Decisions was conducted June 12-16. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.