A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll
taken last month of 1,007 people found that 78 percent of respondents
feel people now in the country illegally should be given a chance at
citizenship.
WASHINGTON (By Julia Preston and Marjorie Connelly, NYTimes) May 25, 2007
As opponents from the right and left challenge an immigration bill before
Congress, there is broad support among Americans Democrats, Republicans
and independents alike for the major provisions in the legislation,
according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Taking a pragmatic view on a divisive
issue, a large majority of Americans want to change the immigration laws to
allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status and to create a new guest
worker program to meet future labor demands, the poll found.
Half of Americans say they are ready to
transform the process for selecting new immigrants as proposed in the bill,
giving priority to job skills and education levels over family ties to the
United States, which have been the foundation of the immigration system for
four decades.
Point by point, large majorities expressed
support for measures in the legislation that has been under debate since
Monday in the Senate.
Two-thirds of those polled said illegal
immigrants who had a good employment history and no criminal record should
gain legal status as the bill proposes, which is by paying at least $5,000
in fines and fees and receiving a renewable four-year visa.
Many Republican lawmakers have rejected
this plan, calling it amnesty that rewards immigrants who broke the law when
they entered the United States. But the poll showed that differences are not
great between Republicans and Democrats on this issue, with 66 percent of
Republicans in the poll favoring the legalization proposal, as well as 72
percent of Democrats and 65 percent of independents.
Rick Nuρez, a 29-year-old quality control
technician from Pennsauken, N. J., who identified himself as a Republican,
said in a follow-up telephone call that he favored a legalization plan.
Illegal immigrants are imbedded in our
nation, so allowing them to apply for a work visa would be a good way to
draw them in and set a path for them to become legal, said Mr. Nuρez, whose
family came from Puerto Rico. If they have been working here and are law
abiding and can contribute to our country, they should be allowed to stay
and become citizens.
Most of those polled agreed that illegal
immigrants should eventually be allowed to apply to become American
citizens. But 59 percent said illegal immigrants should be considered for
citizenship only after legal immigrants who have played by the rules.
Two-thirds of Americans in the survey
favored creating a guest-worker program for future immigrants. The bill
would create a temporary-worker program in which immigrants would come for
three stints of two years each, going home for one year between each stint
and returning home for good after the third.
More than half of those who favored the
guest-worker program said the workers should be allowed to apply to become
permanent immigrants and eventually American citizens, if they maintain a
strong work history and commit no crimes. About a third of those who favored
the program disagreed, saying guest workers should be required to return
home after their temporary period.
Economists have found that many
undocumented workers have Social Security and other taxes deducted from
their paychecks, and have contributed as much as $7 billion to the
Social Security Administration while claiming no benefits because of
their illegal status.
Among those polled, a majority of 51
percent favored overhauling the American immigration system to make it more
attuned to economic demands, giving priority to job skills and educational
accomplishment.
Family reunification has been the
cornerstone of the immigration system since 2065. The bill proposes to move
to a merit system in which points would be assigned for work skills and
education.
Most Americans in the poll said they
believed the country will be served if immigrants can work legally. When
immigrants do take jobs, theyre hard workers, said Anna Cooper, 55, a
homemaker in Venice, Fla., who identified herself as an independent. They
just want to work, thats the bottom line. They need a paycheck to take care
of their families.
Most Americans Favor Letting Illegal Immigrants Become Citizens,
Poll Finds
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid |
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WASHINGTON
(By Janet Hook, LATimes) June 12, 2007
A strong majority of Americans including nearly two-thirds of Republicans
favors allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens if they pay fines,
learn English and meet other requirements, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg
poll has found.
That is a striking show of support for the central tenet of legislation that
has stalled in the Senate amid vocal opposition from anti-immigrant
conservatives to
provisions allowing such a path to citizenship.
Only 23% of adults surveyed opposed allowing immigrants to become legal.
That bolsters the view, shared by President Bush, that the bill's opponents
represent a vocal minority, whereas most people are more welcoming toward
illegal immigrants.
"They are willing to take jobs that our people aren't interested in, and I
think this helps the economy," Joseph Simpkins, a retired dry cleaner in New
Jersey who participated in the survey, said in a follow-up interview. "As
long as they pay taxes, I see nothing wrong with having them become
citizens."
The poll also found a big gender gap in attitudes toward the economy, with
men far more optimistic than women. More than two-thirds of men said the
economy is doing well; only 49% of women agreed with that.
"Sure, there are people out of work, but I do feel our economy is doing as
well as I've ever seen it," said Harold Wells, a retired financial planner
in Michigan. "We have 4.5% unemployment, and the stock exchange is at its
highest in a while."
National debate on immigration heated up in recent weeks as the Senate has
taken up a Bush-backed bill that would have overhauled immigration laws.
The bill aims to establish a pathway for illegal immigrants to become
citizens if they meet certain requirements. It would provide a guest worker
program to provide temporary visas for immigrant workers, and create a point
system for evaluating new immigrants that would put less weight on family
ties and more on applicants' skills and education.
Although the pathway to citizenship was one of the most controversial
provisions of the Senate bill, the poll found the idea was backed by 63% of
those surveyed even by 58% of those who identified themselves as
anti-immigrant conservatives and 65% of Republicans.
The survey question specified that, under the proposal, citizenship would be
available only to those who register their presence in the U.S., have no
criminal record, pay a fine, get fingerprinted and learn English, among
other requirements. Those conditions helped ease concerns among some
Republicans who feared a less stringent policy would amount to amnesty.
The guest worker program and the new visa point system did not draw as much
support, largely because those elements of the legislation were less well
known. Some 43% did not know enough about the point system to have an
opinion; 25% did not know enough about the guest worker program to have an
opinion.
