HispanicVista Columnists

Americans Support Illegals

By Raoul Lowery Contreras

           Americans are bombarded by passionate declarations of "sovereignty, law and order," and ethnic and racist attacks on those among us who have managed to survive dangerous deserts, mountains, rivers and heavily policed urban corridors to search for better lives. They are lied about, they are accused of crimes they do not commit and of activities they don’t do and of social consequences they simply don’t have.

          They are the illegal aliens, illegal immigrants, undocumented workers and in the old fashioned jargon, "wetbacks."

          Despite verbal and broadcast abuse from broadcast commentators, editorialists, op-ed writers, Ku Klux Klan wannabes, retired Border Patrol agents, former and failed Presidential candidates, congressmen, some of whom are also guilty of aiding and abetting enemies of the United States in wartime by draft dodging to avoid serving the United States even as illegals from Mexico served honorably and continue to do so in the American Armed Forces----THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DON’T BUY THE BALONEY LABELED OUT BY THESE HYSTERICAL AMERICANS.

          In fact, by overwhelming numbers the American people support the general direction the President is pointing to of a legalization of people here and working despite their initial illegal entry.

          The ABC/Washington Post poll conducted between January 12 and 16 of 1007 Americans and published in the Washington Post on January 18 resulted in dramatic rejection of the baloney served up by the self-labeled "Immigration Reform" movement and its loudmouth spokespeople and groups.

          Despite the poll reporting that 54 percent of the American people disapprove of President Bush’s specific handling of the immigration problem, the Washington Post reports that "the American people do support the direction the President seems to be going in on immigration reform—by a nearly 2-1 margin."

          The survey question asked: "Do you think illegal immigrants who are living and working in the United States now should be offered a chance to keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status, or do you think they should be deported back to their native country?"

          A whopping "sixty-one (61) percent" said "undocumented immigrants should be able to keep their jobs and apply for legal status," compared to 36-percent who thought they should be "deported."

          This heavy support for legality is spread across the American population, according to the Post report. "Men, women, Whites, Blacks, older, younger, educated, and less educated adults all seem to agree that deportation is not the solution to the vexing issue of what to do with undocumented immigrants."

Politically, the poll puts "immigration reformers" in their place, far behind the American people as a whole.

          Pat Buchanan and his three followers, Republican Congressmen Tom Tancredo and Lamar Smith, "immigration reform" groups including the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform (FAIR), the Emigration Party of Nevada and some of our innocent-looking neighbors have little currency in view of this poll and the reality of prominent congressmen getting behind guest worker proposals the American people support.

          Why, because 55-percent of Republicans polled supported "undocumented immigrants being able to keep their jobs and apply for legal status (while a minority of) 43-percent (supported) deportation."

          Republicans support the President as do a whopping majority of Americans in his quest to normalize the millions among us who are here and working despite the absence of a piece of paper making them legal.

          Without doubt, critics will scream that there are polls that contradict this one,   but are there? This writer challenges any legitimate polling firm like Zogby, Gallup and any other well known firm to use the exact same question in a scientifically conducted survey. Assuming the exact same question is asked of a least 1000 respondents, only one firm comes to mind that might report different conclusions and that is the notoriously anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican Roper Poll.

          Whatever fix-it immigration bill the President supports in Congress, it will pass with support from Americans, Republicans and Democrats, and maybe, just maybe, we can put the immigration mess behind us.

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Contreras’ newest book—The Illegal Alien: A Dagger Into The Heart Of America??—is available at www.amazon.com – Contact at: Sdraoul@att.net