http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegio ... eid=137386

Polls: Citizens losing sympathy for illegal immigrants
By Laura Crimaldi
Monday, May 1, 2006

New national polls show Americans are feeling less sympathy toward undocumented workers and have serious doubts the government can fix the country’s massive immigration problem.

Recent Zogby International polls show the immigration protests in March left three in five adults feeling less compassionate toward undocumented workers. Even 46 percent of the Hispanic respondents said they are less likely to be sympathetic to the cause of immigrants as a result of the protests.

The Zogby poll also shows 18 percent of respondents believe Congress and President Bush will not come up with a solution to the problem of undocumented workers.

The survey included 7,967 respondents nationwide and was conducted between March 31 and April 3.

A separate poll conducted by Harris Interactive shows a majority of Americans favor an immigration policy that would grant special treatment to the children and spouses of U.S. citizens, with 73 percent of those polled giving the thumbs-up to children and 67 percent giving preference to spouses.

That poll reached 2,377 U.S. adults who were surveyed online between April 11 and 17.

Fluency in English and job skills topped the list of factors the majority of Harris poll respondents want the government to weigh in determining whether an immigrant can enter this country, the poll results said.