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Posted on 12/13/2007 12:47:04 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Hispanics say the immigration debate and Congress' failure to overhaul immigration laws has hurt them, and many fear deportation for themselves, a relative or close friend, a poll showed today.
The survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center, found that Hispanics in the United States are generally satisfied with their own lives and optimistic about the future. Yet many are wary of negative reactions prompted by heightened attention to illegal immigration in Congress and the presidential campaign trail, and they increasingly cite discrimination as a problem.
Sixty-four percent said the immigration debate and Congress' failure to enact bills revamping immigration laws has made life harder for Hispanics. Just more than half said the increased attention to immigration has hurt them personally, ranging from 12 percent who said they are having more trouble keeping a job to 24 percent who said they are less likely to travel outside the U.S.
While a minority — 41 percent — said they or someone close has experienced discrimination in the past five years, that proportion has grown since 31 percent said so in a 2002 poll by Pew and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Roughly eight in 10 say they think discrimination against Hispanics is a major problem in schools, the workplace and when it comes to success in America, with an increase in those citing school discrimination since 2002 and the other numbers changing little.
``Hispanics in this country are feeling vulnerable in the current political and policy environment,'' said Paul Taylor, acting director of the center.
There are about 47 million Hispanics in the U.S., about 16 percent of the country's population. President Bush and Congress have flopped in their efforts to enact legislation dealing with the country's 12 million illegal immigrants — which include many Hispanics — but increased deportations and tighter limits on government benefits have put pressure on the Hispanic community.
The issue has also become a major one in the 2008 presidential campaign, particularly with Republican candidates who have stressed how they would crack down on a problem widely cited by GOP voters as a top concern.
The poll found 53 percent of Hispanics said they worry about deportation for themselves, a relative or close friend, including 33 percent who said they worry about it a lot. While foreign-born Hispanics were most anxious, even one in three native-born Hispanics — who are all U.S. citizens — expressed worry.
Seven in 10 Hispanics say their own quality of life is either good or excellent, yet they are widely divided over the status of the nation's Hispanics overall. One in three say that nationally, the situation for Hispanics has worsened over the past year, a quarter say it has improved and nearly four in 10 say it has stayed the same.
Even so, the survey found, more than three-fourths are confident that Hispanic children will do better economically than Hispanics are doing today.
The study also found that 75 percent of Hispanics said illegal immigrants help the economy by providing low-cost workers, while 17 percent said it hurts by driving down wages. By 48 percent to 40 percent, more non-Hispanics said it has hurt the economy.
The poll was conducted from Oct. 3 through Nov. 9 and involved telephone interviews with 2,003 Hispanics adults. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
-rrr-
ping
See my point? :)
I don't know what they are worried about. They should know by now that a turtle can walk around the globe at the equator before the government does anything. They are safe for another 100 years at least.
Someone post the “trying to give a damn” graphic...
Most Hispanics say the immigration debate and Congress’ failure to overhaul immigration laws has hurt them, and many fear deportation for themselves, a relative or close friend, a poll showed today.
Yeah - the law unfairly discriminates against those who break it....
Rally en masse waving the flag of a foreign nation, yea, you should be worried about your future here...
Hey, you don’t like feeling discriminated against, because you’re here illegally? LEAVE!
You don’t like the fear of facing deportation of yourself, a family member, or friend? LEAVE, and take them with you.
You don’t like that illegal immigration is finally getting the attention it deserves, and the American people are demanding politicians do something more than pander or promise? LEAVE!
Those of us who are here legally, want our country back.
Hmmm, maybe because there's very FEW honest to goodness Legal resident alien Hispanics.
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Because much of the media has an inability or an unwillingness to distinguish between being here illegally and being Hispanic.
Am I supposed to care what illegals or those whom may know or be related to illegals think?
They should make it clear to their elected officials that they do not support illegal invaders and be active in efforts to have them removed. So far, I have seen little of this from the Hispanic American citizenry.
It sort of reminds me what we have witnessed from the Muslim community in response to terrorists.
And I don;t believe those figures. I think there are far more Hispanics in America and a far larger percentage of them are illegal invaders than indicated in this article.
>>The poll found 53 percent of Hispanics said they worry about deportation for themselves, a relative or close friend, including 33 percent who said they worry about it a lot. While foreign-born Hispanics were most anxious, even one in three native-born Hispanics — who are all U.S. citizens — expressed worry.<<
Why would someone worry about deportation for themselves, a relative or close friend, unless they knew that person was here illegally?
If Hispanics want to be satisfied with their own lives and optimistic about the future then they need to remember to obey the law. That includes reporting illegal aliens to ICE.
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Gee ... if they'd restrict themselves to crossing the border legally, and not overstaying their visas, that wouldn't be a problem, would it????
The system is working............ but it still needs one helluva lot of improvement!
The sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind. No sympathy here.
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