Thursday, March 30, 2006

Polling on Illegal Immigration

Commenter Nash to my post just below, as well as Laura Ingraham, seem quite certain that "the American people" want tougher border enforcement now and do not want to see any kind of guest worker program. In this post last November 30 I referred to a Manhattan Institute poll that, if accurate, suggests that Laura is all wet on this one. From the poll's conclusions:


According to the new poll, 78% of likely Republican voters favor
immigration reform that includes increased border security, tougher penalties
for employers who hire illegal workers, a policy that allows illegal immigrants
to come forward and register for a temporary worker program that eventually
placed them on a path to citizenship. Facing a choice between a registration and
earned-legalization plan and a plan that includes deportation and
enforcement-only, respondents favored the earned legalization plan 58% to 33%.
In addition, 67% of respondents indicate they would have a more favorable view
of President Bush if he supported an earned legalization reform plan.

My November 30 post offers lots more commentary on the Manhattan Institute poll. A Fox News poll, conducted last May by Opinion dynamics, found that

a 62 percent majority, including almost equal majorities of Democrats (65
percent) and Republicans (62 percent), favors allowing illegal immigrants who
have jobs in the United States to apply for legal, temporary worker status.

Maybe opinions have changed since then, but I don't see where Ms. Ingraham gets off saying a clear majority of Americans are opposed to temporary work programs.

Maybe there are more recent credible polls with different conclusions. I'll look for them. If you know about any, please let me know.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Please don't put words in my mouth. I don't have a problem with a guest worker program. I have a problem with amnesty, meaning automatic citizenship for illegal aliens. The polls you cited don't answer the questions I asked.

I would support a comprehensive package like the first poll suggested. The problem is trusting the government to follow through with all aspects of the proposal. I think the President has already used up his well of good faith. I don't trust him to keep his word. 

Posted by nash

Thursday, March 30, 2006 6:14:00 PM  
Blogger Lowell Brown said...

OK, Nash, no intention of putting words in your mouth. We'll see how this all shakes out.
 

Posted by The Hedgehog

Thursday, March 30, 2006 10:14:00 PM  
Blogger SkyePuppy said...

I don't have a problem with an earned legalization program, PROVIDED they work on enforcement FIRST. So far, the government's ability, and especially willingness, to enforce existing laws has been practically nonexistent. This leaves me lacking any confidence in their ability to enforce any new laws.

When they start enforcing existing laws (and a fence would do that quite nicely), then I'll be ready to talk about the next step in the process. 

Posted by SkyePuppy

Friday, March 31, 2006 3:43:00 PM  

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