Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

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January 11, 2010
Poll shows broad support for immigration reform
Immigrant advocacy groups are touting a new nationwide poll today that shows a clear majority of Americans support comprehensive immigration reform in Congress.

The poll results were released today by pro-immigrant America's Voice and Benenson Strategy Group, a research and consulting firm, which conducted the December survey of 800 likely voters.

Here are key findings in the poll:

According to the recent poll, 65 percent of voters want Congress to take up immigration reform this year rather than wait until later.

Sixty-six percent of respondents supported immigration reform without hearing details of the plan.

Support for reform was consistent across party lines. Sixty-nine percent of Democrats, 67 percent of independents and 62 percent of Republicans endorsed reform.

Survey respondents supported immigration reform at a higher percentage when they were told details about the plan.

The most common immigration reform plans include requiring illegal immigrants to register with the government and meet certain conditions, including working, paying taxes and learning English in order to apply for citizenship. That version of reform was supported by 87 percent of respondents to the December poll.


America's Voice says "these findings show continued support for reform following similar polls in November 2008 and May 2009, even during the country's harshest economic crisis in decades."

Says Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice:

Clearly the American people recognize that the problems in the immigration system can no longer be ignored and that fixing the broken immigration system is consistent with fixing the economy. They understand what is at stake and want their elected officials to act soon. That support for comprehensive immigration reform crosses party lines suggests that the issue is ripe for a bipartisan breakthrough in Washington, DC.

The Federation for Immigration Reform on its Web site says that illegal immigration and mass immigration are harming the country. FAIR, which touts itself as the nation's largest immigration reform organization, says true reform must adhere to some basic principles:

Any level of illegal immigration is unacceptable, and current legal immigrant admissions of about one million persons each year are entirely too many. Any measure that increases either illegal or legal immigration violates this principle. Immigration is a discretionary public policy. Its primary purpose, since our founding, is to advance the interests and security of the nation.

The 1986 amnesty was a failure; rather than reducing illegal immigration, it led to an increase. Any new amnesty measure will further weaken respect for our immigration law. Therefore, all amnesty measures must be defeated.
Laws against illegal immigration must be enforced, if they are going to act as a deterrent. Redefining illegal aliens as "guest-workers" or anything else is just that: a redefinition that attempts to hide the fact it is an amnesty, not reform.


Immigration Reform Poll




hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm??????????

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

sounds too good to be true! but i sure hope its trueeeeee!

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

We can add this to the LONG list of polls showing support for CIR such as Gallup, LA Times/Bloomberg, ABC News/WaPo, CBS News/ NY Times, etc.

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

I believe that as more people support a comprehensive immigration reform more Congressmen will too.

This is an interesting poll question I found at pollingreport.com

"Would you support or oppose a program giving illegal immigrants now living in the United States the right to live here legally if they pay a fine and meet other requirements?"

S-Support
O-Oppose
U-Unsure

4/21-24/09 S:61 O:35 U:3

12/16-19/07 S:49 O:46 U:5

9/27-30/07 S:58 O:35 U:7

There are two interesting things to point out when looking at the numbers: the decrease in support from end of September to Mid-December, and the increase in support in 2009.

Perhaps the decrease in support is because reform failed in the year 2007 and people realized that reform wouldn't be possible and instead believed opposing any type of reform was better for the country. Regardless of the reason, I found this to be interesting.

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

I don't doubt it for a second, but it leaves me thinking, they did drop the public option with 77% of the public supporting a public option 'choice'

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

Are you guys for real... 800 votes is not enough for a good poll.

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

800 actually is a good enough sample size. In statistics, a small sample size does not equal inaccuracy unless the survey itself was conducted with bias. As long as the researches tried to get a random sample and made an effort to avoid bias or error, the sample should be accurate.

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

^
Actually it is not. 800 is a good number if you were to interview Ny'kers if the number 7 train needs better service.

800 people out of a nation of 300 million is just poor sample.

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

800 is plenty for an accurate poll. gallup uses around 1000 people for its polls and they're pretty accurate.

http://janda.org/c10/Lectures/topic05/GallupFAQ.htm - read that if you care to lol

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

The Amnesty of 1986 did do harm. Is anyone familiar with the text form of the S.729 and H.R.4321 (word for word)?

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

And you know they're accurate how?

800 people is nothing, you take 800 in LA or NY and you will get like 80%, you try the same thing somewhere in the midwest like Michigan and you will see much lower support. I could probably find 700 out of 800 USC in favor of CIR in my area without picking them but just going to a few specific places with large groups of open-minded people.

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

This is funny. If you ask people "would you want reform in our immigration laws?" most will say yes, even anti-immigration people will say yes. There is always room for reform but that does NOT mean they support CIR. This poll is completely biased.

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

Michigan is a blue state and has always been. Don't confuse it with Texas.

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

People's stand on CIR has very little to do with whether they're democrat or republican. Michigan is considered to be one of the states that got hit the hardest by the recession. They have an unemployment rate of 14.1% in comparison to Texas which is only 7.9%. Ask an unemployed person anywhere whether CIR is a good idea and let me know what answer you get. Better yet, ask a regular person who even knows of someone who's unemployed and is having a really hard time making ends meet, and see what answer you get. It is only normal that USCs will look after USCs first.

The reason why you see such high support in LA and NY is not only because people have more direct contact with the immigrant population, but because the unemployment isn't as clustered. I mean people still get laid off all the time, but the economic effect is much smaller when a small office closes than when a auto factory lays off like 5k people at once. You get so many people, in the same situation, and if there was some support for CIR among them before it will quickly disappear in group like that.

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

Well then why did you say this:

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

because you could go to a liberal arts university in most communities and you would see a much bigger support for humanitarian causes. College students are a very small group and they aren't as directly affected by the economic crisis as opposed to the working class which obviously constitutes the greatest part of the voting population. The opinions of college students usually reflect ideals and not their financial situation. A poll done in a place like that wouldn't reflect views of the general American population, yet would show a great support for CIR.

If you were to poll the same group of people after they graduate that university and get a taste of real life you would see a difference in results. Same rule applies to geographic location in the US, you ask in a state that is getting destroyed by recession and the support will be small, you do the same thing in like NYC and the support will be bigger. Now how do you figure which one reflects the views of the general voting USC population? With such a small sample as 800 people they are both meaningless.

You could do it by state, with like 5000 people across the state in each state and then maybe you could at least get some reasonable idea of whether USCs actually support CIR.

Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

Another poll result in support of CIR

http://www.americanprogress.org/issu...hot011810.html


Public Opinion Snapshot: Public Continues to Back Comprehensive Immigration Reform
By Ruy Teixeira | January 19, 2010

Print Email Text-size: A A A Share:
There’s no doubt the politics of immigration reform are very complicated and that getting a bill through Congress will not be easy. But it’s important to be clear that the public is quite supportive of immigration reform, especially reform that is comprehensive and does not simply focus on punitive measures. This has been true of the public for some time and a new Benenson Strategy Group poll for America’s Voice demonstrates that it is still true today.

In the new poll, voters were asked about several aspects of comprehensive immigration reform. Perhaps not surprisingly, 89 percent supported increasing security on the U.S.-Mexico border and an identical number supported cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. But nearly as many—87 percent—also supported a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, provided they registered with the government and met requirements like working, paying taxes, and learning English.



Underscoring this nonpunitive approach to immigration reform, the poll also asked voters to choose from two statements concerning immigration and the economy. One statement suggested that we’d be better off if people in the United States illegally left the country because they’re taking jobs Americans need, while the other statement suggested we’d be better off if illegal immigrants became legal taxpayers and paid their fair share. By 67-28, voters chose making illegal immigrants legal over having them leave the country.



Finally, voters were asked directly about what do with the 12 million illegal immigrants in the country in addition to obvious steps like securing our borders and deporting illegal immigrants who commit crimes. Just 22 percent thought they must leave the country and an even smaller group, 11 percent, thought they should be allowed to stay on a temporary basis but not allowed to become citizens. The overwhelming majority, 66 percent, thought the best way to deal with the situation was to require the illegal immigrants to register, meet certain conditions, and then allow them to apply for citizenship.



Immigration reform may be a difficult issue to handle politically. But conservatives and others who claim there is no real public support for immigration reform are just plain wrong.

Ruy Teixeira is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. To learn more about his public opinion analysis go to the Media and Progressive Values page and the Progressive Studies program page of our website.

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Re: Polls Show Broad Support for Immigration Reform
 

Running out of options, need a miracle.