Guest Column
Solid Support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform Revealed In Two Polls
National Immigration Forum
Two separate polls released this week have provided more evidence that the public would support comprehensive immigration reform by pairing stricter enforcement of immigration laws with a path to permanent residency for undocumented immigrants.
These latest surveys were of audiences thought to favor tough polices for undocumented immigrants -- Republican voters in one poll and Arizonans in another.
On Monday, the conservative Manhattan Institute, released a poll of 800 registered “likely” Republican voters, which found that 78% of respondents favor immigration reform that includes increased border security, tougher penalties for employers who hire illegal workers, and 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.
According to Ed Goeas, Principal at the Tarrance Group, the Republican polling firm that conducted the Manhattan Institute poll:
“In examining this data, it is clear that likely Republican voters strongly favor a comprehensive immigration reform plan that combines the stick of tighter borders and tougher enforcement with the carrot of a path to citizenship through an earned legalization process of registration, working, paying taxes, and learning English”
In a separate poll, ThinkAZ, a Phoenix based nonpartisan research, conducted a telephone survey of 600 voters which found that 68% of respondents favor a policy formula that would allow for undocumented immigrants who hold jobs, have roots in this country and have no criminal record to be allowed to remain in the U.S.
While some public figures still call for the outdated and ineffective idea of enforcement alone, these polls suggest that Americans are ready to support reform that combines enforcement with a realistic plan to deal with the 11 million undocumented people in the U.S.
Read below for the press release on the Manhattan Institute poll and an article about the Arizona poll by the Arizona Republic.
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Nick Terzulli, Press Officer
October 17, 2005
nterzulli@manhattan-institute.org, (646) 839-3342
Earned Legalization and Increased Border Security is Key to Immigration Reform According to Republican Voters: New Poll
WASHINGTON, DC -- Confounding expectations, likely Republican voters, do not favor an enforcement-only approach to illegal immigration, according to a new poll of 800 registered “likely” Republican voters conducted by the Tarrance Group for the Manhattan Institute on October 2-5, 2005. On the contrary, the Republican rank and file strongly favor earned legalization for all illegal immigrants, and enacting this reform would have a positive impact on their view of Congress and President Bush.
“In examining this data, it is clear that likely Republican voters strongly favor a comprehensive immigration reform plan that combines the stick of tighter borders and tougher enforcement with the carrot of a path to citizenship through an earned legalization process of registration, working, paying taxes, and learning English,” according to Ed Goeas, Principal at the Tarrance Group, the Republican polling firm that conducted the poll.
This new public opinion data indicates that Republican voters do not think it is possible to deport the illegal immigrants already in the country and do not favor an enforcement-only approach often preached by hard-line conservatives. On the contrary, the rank and file want realistic solutions to deal with future immigrants and the millions of undocumented workers already here.
Although hardliners dominate cable television and conservative talk radio with calls to seal the border, the majority of Republican voters believe in sensible, practical immigration reform that includes an earned legalization process and increased border security, according to this new poll.
“The Republican Party is at a turning point,” said Tamar Jacoby, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
One wing -- hardliners in the House, supported by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and his temporary replacement, Majority Whip Roy Blunt -- favors an enforcement-only approach designed, they think, to appeal to the Republican base. Others -- the President, Sens. John McCain, John Cornyn and colleagues in the House -- say our current policy is so unrealistic that it is all but unenforceable and that we must change the law first, then redouble our efforts to make it stick.
“Our new poll shows that Republican voters see the hardliners’ tough talk for the posturing it is and side with the reformers,” said Jacoby. “Republican voters understand that enforcement-alone will not fix the broken status quo, and they are demanding that the party step up to the plate with a solution worthy of the name.”
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.
An executive summary of this poll is attached and a power-point presentation of the poll results is available at http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/immigration_pol_pr.htm
The Manhattan Institute, a 501(c)(3), is a think tank whose mission is to develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility.
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ARIZONA REPUBLIC: Most in poll would let immigrants stay
But weak border security, terrorists are major concerns
Susan Carroll
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 19, 2005 12:00 AM
Despite their belief that undocumented immigrants are
an economic drain on the state, most Arizona voters do not want to force
them to leave the United States if they are established in communities and
have no criminal record, according to a poll commissioned by The Arizona
Republic.
The statewide poll also indicated that nearly two-thirds of voters believe
that the border remains far from secure, and 85 percent said the possibility
that terrorists could enter the country if the borders are not secured is a
major concern.
Consistent with these concerns, most of the 600 respondents want the border
and immigration to be managed more rigorously by increasing the number of
agents or military personnel policing the border, by cracking down on
employers and by creating a federal guest-worker program that would allow
some of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants to stay in the
United States.
Measures for immigration reform with the greatest support, favored by 60
percent to 80 percent of the respondents, include:
• Making all employers verify the legal status of workers.
• Substantially increasing the U.S. Border Patrol's presence.
• Creating a federal guest-worker program that would permit foreigners to
apply for temporary work visas.
• Allowing some undocumented immigrants to stay in the country if they hold
jobs, have roots here and have no criminal records.
Negative impact
Calls for stronger immigration enforcement, which cost
American taxpayers at least $1.4 billion last year alone, were offset by
concern for undocumented immigrants with established lives in the United
States.
"I understand the people's plight and wanting to make a better life for
themselves," said poll respondent Fred Moore, a 68-year-old retired
appraiser who lives in Phoenix. "But on the other hand, we don't have the
resources to deal with the people coming here. We're not prepared to handle
it."
More than half of respondents said undocumented immigrants are a burden on
the state because they take jobs from U.S. citizens and depress wages.
Nearly eight in 10 said they are a drain on the state, believing they
require substantial social services, the poll found.
But only 28 percent of respondents had the stomach to send all undocumented
immigrants back home. About one-fourth were seriously concerned about a
possible spike in consumer prices and a worker shortage if all were forced
to return home.
Many more voters worried about the suffering that undocumented immigrants
might endure if deported. The possibility that families living in the United
States for years who have few ties to their home countries would endure
personal and economic hardship if deported was a "major concern" of half of
the respondents.
"A lot of them have families here," said Joanna Castillo, a 33-year-old
homemaker who was born in Texas and has friends who are undocumented
immigrants. "What about the children? What are they going to do with them?"
"I'm against the illegal immigration, but I feel that they should be able to
come and work, especially considering the economics of the way they live (in
Mexico)," added Castillo, a Democrat.
Legal workers
The poll indicated widespread support for some sort of
temporary-worker program. Several such programs have been proposed by the
Bush administration and members of Congress, including competing plans by
Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl.
Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they would support a federal program
for temporary foreign workers, with 63 percent of Republicans, 73 percent of
Democrats and 69 percent of independents or members of other parties in
favor.
When it comes to allowing undocumented immigrants to stay in the United
States, the divide is wider, with 61 percent of Republicans in favor vs. 78
percent of Democrats.
Rosemarie Malroy, 65, said she is concerned that businesses, particularly
farmers and growers like her brother-in-law, who owns fruit orchards in
Oregon, will continue to struggle to find enough labor without some kind of
legal foreign-worker program.
"He is having a hard time getting workers to pick his fruit, because he said
Americans don't . . . want this kind of work," said Malroy, an artist and
writer who lives in Fountain Hills. "This is an important thing; this is
going to be all over the United States, not just for the farmers but for all
businesses."
"I think there should be some program where they can have, if not a green
card, a card that allows them to work for some time," said Malroy, a
Republican.
But Andrew Ambos, a 49-year-old truck driver who lives in Kingman, said he
just can't bring himself to support anything remotely resembling an amnesty
because of the sheer number of people crossing the border. Ambos said the
changes in the country's makeup are evident as far north as his hometown of
Milwaukee.
"I have nothing against those people as far as their race. But God, they're
flooding into the country," said Ambos, a Democrat. "It's not just from
Mexico; it's other countries as well. Now it's even a greater threat, what
with terrorism the way it is now. It's not benign; it's a physical danger as
well as an economic danger."
The situation along Arizona's border has been building to a crisis level
since the late 1990s. In 2000, the number of arrests along the Southwestern
border peaked at 1.6 million and then dropped sharply after the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Since then, arrests have leveled off during the past few years at more than
1.1 million, with the majority recorded in Arizona.
State of emergency
- The sheer volume of illegal crossings and the increasingly brazen
behavior of smugglers prompted Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to recently
declare a state of emergency along the state's porous border.
The public is aware of the country's vulnerability, according to the poll, with only 4 percent of respondents saying the government's attempts to secure the border are "very successful." Nearly one-third called the efforts "moderately" successful. The respondents, particularly Republicans, were optimistic that the government could get closer to its goal of securing the border, with 85 percent predicting it could be moderately or very successful in the future.
The two polar-opposite proposals for border reform, fencing the entire 1,951-mile international line and creating an "open border" with Mexico, garnered little support in the poll.
Only about a third of respondents very strongly or fairly strongly supported building a high-security fence along the border, regardless of the cost. Only 14 percent very strongly or fairly strongly liked the idea of opening the border with Mexico, making it the least-popular option.
There was no clear consensus on whether stopping illegal immigration should be a national priority, regardless of the cost. Forty-seven percent said it should be, even if very costly; 51 percent disagreed and said the goal should be to control it at a "reasonable cost."
There was lukewarm enthusiasm, however, for either cutting other government programs or raising taxes to spend more on border enforcement.
The most popular option was reducing spending on the war in Iraq, with 44 percent of respondents very strongly or fairly strongly in favor. One-third felt that way about eliminating recent tax cuts, and 23 percent felt similarly about reducing federal commitments to the reconstruction of areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The least popular proposals were cutting federal spending for health, education or other social services (18 percent) and raising taxes (17 percent).
Keith Shillito, a 36-year-old physician who lives in Parker, said people bent on complaining about the cost of illegal immigration are "not running out there to pick melons and do the labor that the undocumented immigrants do."
"I look at it from a humanitarian perspective, and that is that they're benefiting us and we don't really give them much in return," said Shillito, a Democrat. "Illegal immigration is something that, to some extent, we have to accept. It's not like it's going away."
Jon Kamman contributed to this article. - ________________________________________________________
- Analysis and articles provided by: Douglas G. Rivlin, Director of Communication, National Immigration Forum http://www.immigrationforum.org/ Contact at: rivlin@immigrationforum.org
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