Posted on 04/05/2010 8:23:07 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
In a dramatic turnaround from 16 years ago, Californians now overwhelmingly favor giving illegal immigrants a "path to legalization'' rather than punishing them by denying them a public education and social services, according to a poll unveiled Monday.
The survey of 1,515 registered voters showed that 67 percent of Californians support a two-pronged approach to solving the illegal immigration problem: implementing stronger enforcement at the border while setting up a legalization path for undocumented immigrants who admit they broke the law, perform community service, learn English and pay fines and back taxes.
Seventy percent favor stricter border controls and a temporary worker program that does not grant illegal immigrants citizenship and requires them to return to their homeland. But only 45 percent favor denying the undocumented an education and taxpayer-funded health and social services.
Dan Schnur, a political science professor at the University of Southern California, said the poll — sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and USC's College of Letters, Arts and Sciences — showed there was a "sea change'' in Californians' attitudes toward illegal immigration since 1994. That's when 59 percent of the state's voters cast a ballot in favor of Proposition 187, the white-hot measure aimed at denying services to illegal immigrants. The proposition was later ruled unconstitutional by federal courts.
"The conventional wisdom has suggested that the level of support for denial of services had remained fairly constant,'' said Schnur, who once worked for Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, a champion of Proposition 187. But the new poll, Schnur said, suggests otherwise.
One big reason for the change: Younger voters are less likely to favor cutting off services to the undocumented, Schnur said. In addition, the number of Latino voters has substantially increased since 1994.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
BS
I call BS!
False Dilema
How is denying someone services they are not due a "punishing" them?
That sounds about right. I think the writers have attempted to sugar coat the results with a liberal slant. Their own figures state that 70% want the illegals to return home!
Suspect poll, but even so . . . I wonder how much this change in view would have to do with making a path for illegals to LEAVE CALIFORNIA and fan out to the other states.
IOW, California is already pretty hospitable to illegals, I think, so many stay there. It’s also convenient to their “home country” (as Michelle Obambi would say).
But if the illegals were to become citizens, well, then they might feel more free to move out of California and try their luck in another state, say, Massachusetts, where the welfare is good.
Just saying.
The sister paper of the LA Times is the Spanish-language LA Opinion.
BS poll like the Daily Kos poll showing MCCain ahead in AZ.
Yes I agree 1000% - they should all be kicked out on their illegal @$$es and made to wait 10 years before they can LEGALLY apply to come here.
It’s Mercury News. The first clue it’s bullshit.
This is what propaganda looks like folks.
Nam Vet
CA doesn’t need people who will work cheaply. It needs people who will buy their bonds. LOL.
I heard Sen. Gramnesty say on the Medved show (week of March 29 - April 2) that if we implement his plan for immigration reform the illegal immigrats will not escape punishment for breaking our laws.
Fines and community service for those criminals, by golly! -- and it's to the back of the line with you criminals, yes sir. That'll show them. Swift, sure punishment for wrong doing, it's the American way. Wot? The 1986 reforms? What's that?
What if they have no money to pay the fine? What if they cannot even support themselves to do the community service?
No problem! I bet Gramnesty reform includes money to pay the fines and to support the criminals -- and of course after their debt is paid to (and by) society he can expect job preference owing to their minority status. What a deal!
That certainly qualifies as a legitimate poll ... sort of like a NY Times/Cornell University poll.
Absolutely & positively slanted to get the desired response.
Yep. Younger voters who don't think about such things as who's going to actually have to pay for all these services, and Latinos who desire to see CA (and the rest of No. America) turned into a welfare state version of Mexico.
I've noticed that the proposed "learn English" requirement is sometimes described of late as "try to learn English." I wonder if that reflects a recognition that many will not master English, so let's make sure they can become citizens by signing up for an English class or two. Which would be so easy to fake.
In other news... In a dramatic turnaround from 16 years ago, Americans now overwhelmingly favor giving all Statist Californians an exit path to renouncing their Citizenship and self-deporting to thier most preferred communist utopia.
No Chain Migration.
It is the Murky News, I would expect not less a story.
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