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Since that story aired the Hood County Republican Party announced it would boycott the City of Austin, and News 8 received a flood of viewer comments through our online poll on the issue.

Missing from the dialogue were the voices of the undocumented immigrants themselves. So in the spirit of Wednesday's meeting between President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon, reporter Heidi Zhou crossed the proverbial border into Austin's East Riverside District.

Here, the majority of businesses are Latino-owned. Spanish signs dominate buildings. Hispanic immigrants, both documented and undocumented call this area home. Just as ubiquitous as the taquerias and discotecas are opinions in sharp contrast to those reflected by News 8's polls.

Of the 2,309 people who answered whether they agreed with the city council's decision to boycott Arizona, 70 percent of participants in the online poll said no. Here's a sampling of the comments.

The majority of Americans (those here legally) agree with the law. Why don't our so-called leaders support our wishes?
--Follow the money

The part of Austin I live in has an ever-increasing number of non-English speaking Hispanics. More and more Mexican targeted businesses opening up. It is becoming an extension of Mexico. The same can be said where my mother lives here in Travis County and my daughter in Bastrop County. Heck, my sister in Illinois has the same problem. Where is INS? Why are certain laws enforced and not others? I say "Way to go Arizona!!"
--Dawn

Norma Hurracan, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, disagreed. Hurracan has lived in Austin for five years. Her two-year old daughter is an American citizen. Coming to America illegally was wrong, she said, but it was her only option.

We found Hurracan waiting for a bus that would take her to the chain fast food restaurant where she worked. She said getting that job was a rare opportunity, even though it only pays minimum wage. Viewers who responded to News 8's polls voiced concerns that people like Hurracan were taking jobs from Americans.

How are you going to feel when some illegal alien takes YOUR job. Oh, wait, this is Austin. Everyone here will welcome an illegal alien taking their job. It's good for the soul.
--AR in RR

Sarcasm aside, Benito Ortega takes the accusation seriously. The 63-year-old continues to work in construction. Every morning he waits for work at a street corner on East Riverside. He's joined by at least ten other Mexican men, most half his age.

A handful of viewers who responded to News 8's poll seemed to agree with Ortega's claim that the economy depends on the manual labor of undocumented immigrants.

If you want illegal aliens out of the us of a, then stop eating all your veggies (organic and nonorganic), stop eating out in your fancy restaurants, start cleaning your own houses, taking care of your own babies, cutting your own lawns... etc etc etc
--TA

Twenty-two percent of our poll responders agreed that the city council's boycott of Arizona makes the right statement. Ortega was touched by the city's measure, he said.

But Ortega's gratitude could be short-lived. Republican Rep. Debbie Riddle of Tomball has said she would introduce a law similar to Arizona's during the next legislative session. That goes against Gov. Rick Perry's comments that such a law would not be right for Texas, but Riddle's suggestion was popular among News 8's poll responders.

I THINK TEXAS SHOULD BE RIGHT THERE BESIDE ARIZONA ON THIS NEW IMMIGRATION LAW.
--LINDA SMITH

Seriously, our state needs to pass the same law. The city council would have been better off voting to enforce the existing federal laws like AZ did.
--taylormom

Arizona's immigration law is racist against Mexicans, Juan Antonio said. He's lived without papers in Texas for five years, getting by on temporary construction jobs.

All economic arguments aside, many News 8 poll responders said it came down to one simple fact in Arizona's favor. Illegal is Illegal.

There is a legal due process to becoming a citizen; we are not the only country with immigration LAWS. people who do not follow the legal process are CRIMINALS IN OUR COUNTRY AGAINST THE LAW. Plain and simple. The real issue is the fact that Mexico is a horrible country and deserves to self destruct. There, I said it.
--fight for what's right!!!

Ortega counts himself a proud Mexican, but takes no resentment to the above comment, he said. Ortega has benefited from the federal immigration law just as much as he has suffered from it. He entered the country illegally, he said, but received a green card after passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Ortega is now a permanent resident.

One could argue an obvious divide in language, socio-economic status and culture separates the online world of New 8's poll and the hot pavement of East Riverside Drive. But if there's one thing both sides can agree on, it's this: The federal government isn't doing its job to enforce or reform immigration policy.

It's time that something be done about our open borders. Since the federal govt wouldn't do anything, AZ had to step up. I think that TX should pass a similar bill along with other states. Hopefully, it will get the attention of the federal govt.
--Teresa

The federal government's too much of a chicken to try to do the right thing. If this keeps up, the U.S. will become another third world country.
--vote out the Austin City Council

President Obama has made commitments to tackle immigration before the end of 2010, but so far health care and financial reforms have dominated the President's time, as immigration continues to boil on the back burner.

To view all the responses from last week's poll, click here.