Latino Voters Prefer Democrats' Dream Act Over Marco Rubio's Plan

Candidate Mitt Romney continues to lag behind President Barack Obama with Latino voters, according to a poll released Friday. And if he decides to support an upcoming Dream Act-style bill from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), this might not help him much.

The poll from Latino Decisions, a nonpartisan firm, found that with Latino voters, Obama leads Romney by 43 percentage points, mirroring other reports that show the former Massachusetts governor with a considerable disadvantage among the Hispanic population. More than 60 percent of Latino voters support Obama while Romney has support from just 23 percent of these voters.

The poll also poked a hole in the idea that Romney's supporting Rubio's "Dream Act" would dramatically aid Romney with Latino voters. That bill, which has not yet been released, would allow some undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children to stay under certain conditions but without a path to citizenship. Romney has said that he commends Rubio's efforts generally but he won't consider officially endorsing it until there is actual legislation.

Latino voters are split on Rubio's proposal, with about half supporting it and half opposing it, according to the poll, which described the plan but did not attribute it to him.

The Dream Act supported by Democrats, including Obama, has support from nearly 90 percent of Latino voters, and about 80 percent prefer it to the plan similar to Rubio's. That plan was also described in the poll but not attributed to any proponent. A majority of non-Latinos also prefer the Democratic Dream Act, Latino Decisions found.

The Dream Act bill supported by Democrats, which was first proposed more than a decade ago, would also allow some undocumented youths to stay under certain conditions and would allow them to obtain a green card and then possibly citizenship.