Posted on 05/03/2006 7:45:44 PM PDT by nckerr
WASHINGTON, May 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A new Zogby poll of likely voters, using neutral language (i.e., avoiding the words "amnesty" or "illegal alien"), finds that Americans prefer the House of Representatives' enforcement-only bill by 2-1 over Senate proposals to legalize illegal immigrants and greatly increase legal immigration. The poll was conducted for the Center for Immigration Studies. Complete results are on line at:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2006/2006poll.html.
-- On immigration generally, Americans want less, not more, immigration. Only 26 percent said immigrants were assimilating fine and that immigration should continue at current levels, compared to 67 percent who said immigration should be reduced so we can assimilate those already here.
-- While the Senate is considering various bills that would increase legal immigration from 1 million to 2 million a year, only 2 percent of Americans believe current immigration is too low. This was true for virtually every grouping in the survey by ethnicity, income, age, religion, region, party, or ideology.
-- When offered by itself, there is strong support for the House bill: 69 percent said it was a good or very good idea when told that it tries to make illegals go home by fortifying the border, forcing employer verification, and encouraging greater cooperation with local law enforcement, while not increasing legal immigration; 27 percent said it was a bad or very bad idea.
-- Support for the House approach was widespread, with 81 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of independents, 57 percent of Democrats, and 53 percent of Hispanics saying it was good or very good idea.
-- When offered by itself, there is also some support for the Senate approach, though not as much as for the House bill: 42 percent said the Senate approach was a good or very good idea when told it would allow illegal immigrants to apply for legal status provided they met certain criteria, and it would significantly increase legal immigration and increase enforcement of immigration laws; 50 percent said it was a bad or very bad idea.
-- There were few groups in which a majority supported the Senate plan, even when presented by itself. Exceptions included Hispanics, 62 percent of whom said it was a good or very good idea, and the most liberal voters (progressives), 54 percent of whom approved of it.
-- When given three choices (House approach, Senate approach, or mass deportation), the public tends to reject both the Senate plan and mass deportations in favor of the House bill; 28 percent want the Senate plan, 12 percent want mass deportations, while 56 percent want the House approach.
-- But when given a choice between just the House and Senate approaches, without the choice of mass deportations, the public prefers the House approach 64 percent to 30 percent.
-- One reason the public does not like legalization is that they are skeptical of the need for illegal-immigrant labor. An overwhelming majority of 77 percent said there are plenty of Americans to fill low-wage jobs if employers pay more and treat workers better; just 15 percent said there are not enough Americans for such jobs.
-- Another reason the public does not like Senate proposals to legalize illegals and double legal immigration is that 73 percent said they had little or no confidence in the ability of the government to screen these additional applicants to weed out terrorists and criminals.
-- The public also does not accept the argument we have tried and failed to enforce the law: 71 percent felt that past enforcement efforts have been "grossly inadequate," while only 19 percent felt we had made a "real effort" to enforce our laws.
The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent, non-partisan research organization which examines and critiques the impact of immigration on the United States.
http://www.usnewswire.com/
Actually, it wouldn't be that difficult to prove, amazing what shows up when you do an indepth audit in a corporation.
So, what percentage do you think would get stopped for any infraction of the law?
That straw-man argument is really getting old.
If employers are given a straightforward way to check the immigration status of new hires, and face punitive fines if they're caught cheating, the pressure will be on the illegals to return because they just can't find work. Nobody deported, nobody incarcerated, and we won't have to listen to your spurious argument any more.
Sheesh.
I swear, there must be some reason everyone runs away screaming like banshees when the question gets asked...
-- Support for the House approach was widespread, with 81 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of independents, 57 percent of Democrats, and 53 percent of Hispanics saying it was good or very good idea.
I figured 40%, not over half.
I love Sheriff Joe -- we need more American's in positions of power with his attitude; I might mention that he wasn't always this concerned about the illegal problem, but it's become such a crime issue here in AZ...
No, I would favor a more pro-active program of trying to catch more and deporting them immediately back to their country of origin. No release, no future court date, just bye-bye.
Why is giving a simple answer to a simple question so hard?
Followed by "Hello again" a few weeks later.
Like I said, it's catch very few and release.
Felonies that have zero punishment attached to them are not enforceable.
So, how many illegal aliens do you propose to incarcerate under this proposal?
So what's your answer! Just let it go! Employers who knowingly hire illegals can be prosecuted and have been prosecuted.
Are you saying there is nothing we can do about the invaders and the outlaw employers so we should surrender?
Smart people go for border enforcement!
Zero; they should be sent back to where they came from.
Not easily, and not very many. It must be proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a company knowingly hired illegals.
It's very tough to prove, especially when the illegal has all the official papers the government says he needs.
Why does everyone go to such great lengths to refuse to answer a simple question? How many illegal aliens do you propose to incarcerate?
Keep sending your representatives bricks in the mail as a hint.
O'Reilly had that really cool Sheriff from AZ on tonight. He's going to lock up all the illegals he can find in tents by using posse-men. O'Reilly asked him what he would do if he caught 20,000 and the Sheriff replied, "I'll build tents from here to the border if I have to."
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