Wednesday, March 26, 2014, 4:11 PM EDT

A new poll might seem like a nightmare for proponents of the N.Y. DREAM Act, which would give illegal aliens access to tuition financial assistance. A poll taken during the period when the bill failed in the N.Y. Senate says that 56% of likely voters oppose offering tuition aid to illegal aliens.

The poll, which was conducted by the Siena College Research Institute, found that only 39% of likely voters support the measure. By Party identification, the N.Y. DREAM Act is opposed by 41% of Democrats, 81% of Republicans and 59% of Independents. A majority of 18 to 34 year olds also oppose the bill.

The New York Daily News reports the poll “could be a death knell for the issue this year.” Since the bill was defeated last week, proponents have been trying to incorporate the measure in the state budget. However, the co-leaders of the Senate said they are not discussing that option. “This is a nonstarter,” said Senate co-leader Jeff Klein (D). “It wasn’t discussed [in budget negotiations],” said Dean Skelos (R), the Senate’s other co-leader.

The N.Y. Senate defeated the measure on March 17th. During debate, one Senator argued that taxpayers should not be underwriting the education of illegal aliens when 76% of legal New York State college student do not have access to financial aid.

https://www.numbersusa.com/content/n...ition-aid.html