Californians back broad approach to immigration
Poll finds concern higher in state than nationwide
By MARK Z. BARABAK
Los Angeles Times

Californians generally favor a carrot-and-stick approach to illegal immigration, mixing tougher border enforcement with a guest-worker program and a pathway to citizenship for people already in the United States, according to a new Los Angeles Times Poll.

By a ratio of more than 3 to 1, those surveyed said they preferred a comprehensive approach to the immigration issue, which President Bush and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators advocate, rather than the more punitive legislation passed by the House of Representatives. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have spent months trying to reconcile those conflicting proposals.

Support for a broader approach to illegal immigration was shared by Californians of all political persuasions, regardless of where they lived.

Overall, there was little difference of opinion between Latinos and whites, although Latinos were somewhat more supportive of a guest-worker program and more strongly opposed to building a fence proposed along the U.S.-Mexico border to curb illegal entry.

In general, Californians were marginally more supportive of a two-track approach to immigration than Americans as a whole. But residents here viewed illegal immigration as a bigger problem than most Americans. More than four in 10 Californians considered it one of the biggest problems facing the country, compared with three in 10 of those surveyed nationally.

And the concern of Californians has risen as the issue has become more prominent in the state. In an open-ended question, 34 percent of respondents said illegal immigration was one of the most important problems facing California. That compared with 13 percent who gave that response in a statewide survey in October, before congressional action and mass demonstrations across the country vaulted the immigration issue to heightened attention.

''It's a serious problem,'' poll participant Greg Hoshabekian, 53, said in a follow-up interview. Hoshabekian, a semi-retired law enforcement officer who lives in Apple Valley, has no confidence that politicians will find a solution. ''I'll start learning Spanish, I guess.''

The Times Poll, which found most Californians unhappy with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's overall performance, also turned up poor marks for his handling of the immigration issue. The governor last year praised the freelance border patrol launched by the Minuteman Militia. But more recently he has condemned talk in Congress of a border fence -- calling it a return to ''the Stone Ages'' -- and advocated incentives and tough enforcement to address the nation's illegal immigration problem.

Overall, 49 percent of those surveyed disapproved of Schwarzenegger's handling of the issue while 28 percent approved. Nearly six in 10 Latinos disapproved of the governor's performance on immigration compared with fewer than five in 10 whites.

The Times Poll, under the supervision of director Susan Pinkus, interviewed 1,863 Californians from April 21 through April 27. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 2 percentage points. The national survey on immigration issues was conducted April 8-11 and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.


A guest-worker proposal giving temporary visas to noncitizens who want to work in the U.S. drew strong support from Californians, with 64 percent of those surveyed backing the proposal and 18 percent opposed. Three in four Latinos favored the guest-worker plan -- which is the centerpiece of the Senate immigration plan backed by Bush -- compared with six in 10 whites.

Another Senate proposal, establishing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who step forward, pay a fine and learn English, was even more popular, drawing support from more than seven in 10 Californians. Fifteen percent were opposed.

Two of the provisions in the tougher House legislation fared less well. Just 31 percent of Californians supported a proposal that would both build a border fence and classify illegal immigrants as felons, compared with 55 percent who were opposed. The proposal, however, drew a sharp split along ethnic lines: more than seven in 10 Latinos were opposed, compared with nearly five in 10 white residents. While 39 percent of whites were in favor, just 20 percent of Latinos voiced support.

Finally, after hearing all the alternatives, 70 percent of Californians said Congress should combine tougher border enforcement with a guest worker program, compared with 22 percent who favored a strictly get-tough approach.

Those sentiments compared with 63 percent of Americans who said lawmakers should take a comprehensive approach and 30 percent who said Congress should focus solely on toughening enforcement of border control laws.

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