Minority Advocates, Constituents Differ on Immigration

WASHINGTON (February 25, 2010) – While it is sometimes assumed that minorities, particularly Hispanics, favor increased immigration and legalization for illegal immigrants, a new Zogby survey finds that minority voters’ views are more complex. The poll of Hispanic, Asian-American, and African-American likely voters finds some support for legalization. But overall each of these groups prefers enforcement and for illegal immigrants to return home. Moreover, significant majorities of all three groups think that the current level of immigration is too high. These views are in sharp contrast to the leaders of most ethnic advocacy organizations, who argue for increased immigration and legalization of illegal immigrants. The survey used neutral language, avoiding such terms as “amnesty,” “illegal alien,” or “undocumented.”

In contrast to the leadership of many ethnic advocacy groups, most members of minority groups think immigration is too high.

* Hispanics: 56 percent said it is too high; 7 percent said too low; 14 percent just right. * Asian-Americans: 57 percent said immigration is too high; 5 percent said too low; 18 percent just right. * African-Americans: 68 percent said it is too high; 4 percent said too low; 14 percent just right.

Most members of minority groups do not feel that illegal immigration is caused by limits on legal immigration as many ethnic advocacy groups argue; instead, members feel it’s due to a lack of enforcement.

* Hispanics: Just 20 percent said illegal immigration was caused by not letting in enough legal immigrants; 61 percent said inadequate enforcement. * Asian-Americans: 19 percent said not enough legal immigration; 69 percent said inadequate enforcement. * African-Americans: 16 percent said not enough legal immigration; 70 percent said inadequate enforcement.

Most members of minority groups feel that there are plenty of Americans available to fill unskilled jobs.

* Hispanics: 15 percent said legal immigration should be increased to fill unskilled jobs; 65 percent said there are plenty of Americans available to do unskilled jobs, employers just need to pay more. * Asian-Americans: 19 percent said increase immigration; 65 percent said plenty of Americans are available. * African-Americans: 6 percent said increase immigration; 81 percent said plenty of Americans are available.

When asked to choose between enforcement that would cause illegal immigrants in the country to go home or offering them a pathway to citizenship with conditions, most members of minority groups choose enforcement.

* Hispanics: 52 percent support enforcement to encourage illegals to go home; 34 percent support conditional legalization. * Asian-Americans: 57 percent support enforcement; 29 percent support conditional legalization. * African-Americans: 50 percent support enforcement; 30 percent support conditional legalization.

Discussion This survey of minority voters shows that when it comes to the issue of legalizing illegal immigrants, these voters disagree with the leadership of many ethnic advocacy groups. Most voters want the law enforced and illegal immigrants to return to their home countries. Overall they also feel that the current level of immigration is too high. The poll specifically asks voters to put aside the issue of legal status and focus only on the numbers. Even so, most think the level of immigration is too high and very few think it is too low. Not surprisingly, when it comes to allowing more unskilled workers into the country, most Hispanic, Asian-American, and African-American voters feel there are plenty of Americans here to do such work; employers just need to pay more.

The overall findings of this poll show a significant divide between the perception that minority voters want legalization and increased legal immigration and the reality, which is that they want enforcement and less immigration. Like most Americans, minority voters are not anti-immigrant or anti-immigration per se. Moreover there is not unanimity on the immigration issue among or between groups. What the poll does show is that, like most Americans, Hispanic, Asian, and black voters want the law enforced and illegal immigrants to go home. Moreover, they think the overall level of immigration is too high. When some leaders of minority groups speak on immigration and argue for legalization, they are merely offering their own personal opinions, not necessarily those of voters in these communities.

Methodology Zogby International was commissioned by the Center for Immigration Studies to conduct an online survey. A sampling of Zogby International’s online panel, which is representative of the adult population of the United States, was invited to participate. Zogby maintains the panel and has used it for other surveys. Slight weights were added to region, party, age, race, religion, gender, and education to more accurately reflect the U.S. population. The survey included roughly 700 Hispanic, 400 African-American, and 400 Asian-American likely voters.

The survey was conducted by Zogby from November 13 to 30, 2009. The margin of error for likely voters is +/- 0.5 percent. The margin of error for Hispanic likely voters is 3.7 percent; for African-Americans it is 4.7 percent; and for Asian-Americans voters it is 5.1 percent.

You really can't blame the illegals.

When you look at the world they come from, and what they can get here, any one of us would do the same. Its the wrong argument.

We have only ourselves to blame for allowing the harlots we send to Washington to have gotten away with this for so long.

The Republicans want illegals to provide cheap, exploitable labor for corporate contributors, e.g the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, fruit farmers, fast food chains, etc.

The Democrats want them for all of the above PLUS their votes in the future.

This has always been a problem, but the LAST President was most egregious in his failure to stop it. Indeed, he actively collaborated with foreign governments, e.g. Mexico to facilitate it. This present idiot in the Oval Office is probably even WORSE in that regard.

The Federal Government - and our respective elected Harlots - are guilty of CRIMINAL malfeasance of office by FAILING to enforce the Constitution, protect our borders and protect the citizens who elected them and pay their exorbitant salaries and benefits as compensation for holding those Offices.

The best way to STOP illegals is as follows:

1) Put OUT OF BUSINESS any company which KNOWINGLY hires these people. Since they are guilty of a criminal conspiracy, they should have ALL their assets liquidated and the proceeds used to defray the expense of enhanced border protection, and the apprehension and extradition of illegals who are apprehended.

2) Put the U.S. military on our Southern Borders. The Mexican Government has in effect created an act of war against America by encouraging its citizens to come here, work, and send American dollars south of the border to prop up their corrupt and economically depressed government.
Its failure to control its own drug trade has impacted America's economy, safety and public health.

3)Use Federal Authority to SEIZE all Mexican assets, AND the assets of any other foreign nation in America if such governments do not take appropriate steps to discourage illegal immigration into the U.S.

4)Cut off all social service of any kind, aside from immediate emergency medical care, to any illegals here.

5)Deprive any religious organization which offers any kind of assistance or encouragement to illegals, of their tax free status, and, if necessary, seize their assets to defray the cost of dealing with illegals they are involved with.

6) Put any “sanctuary cities” under martial law controlled by the Federal Government as their actions constitute a rebellion against Federal Authority.

The way to deal with a problem is to DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM.

And NONE of the above solutions are unconstitutional.

“We are a nation of Immigrants!”— Not so fast!

We hear it every day from the media and the presidential candidates.

“We are a nation of immigrants!”

Translation, “There is no need to secure our borders - I want my cheap labor and I don’t care what it costs my fellow citizens!”

Don’t hold your breath for that statement of reality!

It is true the USA allows more legal immigration than all other countries combined. Yes, we are the most welcoming nation on earth. And like a hostess who cooks and cleans for a week only to have her nare-do-well relatives show up, eat like pigs, trash the place, belch and leave without lifting a hand to help and asking for a bag of food to go, the USA needs to pull up her welcome mat.

In 1990 the foreign born population in the USA was 7.9%. Which meant 92.1 % of the country was NOT a nation of immigrants.

1860 through 1930 were the greatest percentages of foreign born until now, another time in our history where we allowed mass immigration, until it got out of hand and a stop was put to it. In fact, during the 1860’s volumes of immigrants were allowed in to fight the civil war for the Union. Of the total Black population of 4,880,009 in 1870, 9,645, or only 0.2 percent, were foreign-born.

The largest percentage of foreign born , 14.8% was recorded in the 1890 census, when we had a lot more room and resources to support them and when migrants were not dependent on the taxpayer and provided translators. Yet somehow, they made it.

The period of time, which happens also to be the time of our current US residents experience, with the least foreign born population was 1950 to 1990, averaging about 6.2% foreign born.
Amazing, isn’t it, how prosperous we became in that period without mass immigration.

Equally amazing is the claim by open border advocates that this nation cannot survive economically without the millions per year now coming in both legal and illegal. A silly claim disproven by the conditions those same foreign nationals left their respective 3rd world countries in.

In 1990 there were 7,350,512 foreign born who spoke Spanish instead of English at home, half of all foreign language homes in the USA. That same year the census counted 3 1/2 million foreign born over age 65. Now, there’s a work force for ya! 450,000 of them were over age 85!

Regarding citizenship of the foreign born population, that has shown a trend of not bothering with becoming a US citizen by immigrants. In 1950, 20% were not citizens. By 1990, about 60% of the foreign born living here were not citizens, usually maintaining loyalty only to their homelands.

As a percentage of the total population, the foreign-born population increased from 4.7 percent in 1970 to 6.2 percent in 1980, to 7.9 percent in 1990, and to an estimated 9.7 percent in 1997. In 2004 The nation’s foreign-born population is estimated to be 33.5 million, with slightly more than half from Latin America, 25 percent from Asia, 14 percent from Europe, and the remainder from other regions and twelve percent of U.S. population is foreign born in 2004. You can see where this trend is heading.

In Miami-Dade County, Florida, more than half the residents were born in another country, the highest rate reported for the 2000 census for any county in the country. There were 33-million foreign-born residents in the United States, the Census Bureau reports, a 44 percent increase since 1990.

In 2002, nearly 20 percent of children in the U.S. or 14 million children, had at least one foreign-born parent.

A nation of immigrants? That’s where we’re headed if the trend isn’t checked as our leaders were wise enough to do in the past. Unlike other times, however, we can’t even get them to say “illegal aliens” or stop the flow.

http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/2007/05/we-are-nation-of-immigrants-not-so-fast.html

Just an example of how out of touch the ‘leaders’ of African Americans are:

African American Clergy Leaders Support Immigration Reform Campaign

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — This week, Reverend Luis Cortes, Jr., President of Esperanza and Chairman of the Esperanza for America campaign, convened a group of prominent African American clergy from across the country with Hispanic clergy and faith leaders to discuss the issue of immigration reform. The purpose of this meeting was to begin building an African American/Latino coalition in support of Esperanza’s national campaign for comprehensive immigration reform. Esperanza is one of the largest Hispanic faith-based networks in the United States with a national network of 12,000 faith and community-based organizations.[snip]

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/african-american-clergy-leaders-support-immigration-reform-campaign-85408612.html

THE REALITY:

African-Americans: 68 percent said it is too high; 4 percent said too low; 14 percent just right.

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