A new national poll of registered Latino voters indicates strong support for President Barack Obama's actions during his first 100 days in office. A majority of respondents also approve of actions taken by Congress and regard immigration reform an extremely important priority.

"President Obama campaigned heavily for the Latino vote in 2008 and remains very popular. In his first 100 days, he has appointed two Latinos to his inner circle and said immigration reform will be a priority in year one," said Matt Barreto, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Washington who is the poll's lead researcher.

Judging Obama's first 100 days, 81 percent of the 600 people polled said they approve so far. According to 56 percent, the economy is the most important issue Obama faces. Asked how effective he will be in dealing with economic problems, given that Democrats have a majority in Congress, 79 percent said effective and 16 percent said ineffective.

Asked their opinion about the first 100 days of the new Congress, 67 percent said they approve and 24 percent said they disapprove.

Obama's appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State won strong support: 85 percent approved and 11 percent disapproved.

Fifty-one percent said immigration reform is extremely important, even though Congress and the president must address other significant issues as well.

Latino Decisions, a collaboration between Barreto, Pacific Market Research and Stanford University political scientist Gary Segura, conducted the national poll by telephone April 23-30. The poll's sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points. The UW and Stanford University paid for the work.

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For more information, contact Barreto at 206-616-3584 or mbarreto@u.washington.edu or go to http://www.latinodecisions.com