http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3515729.html

Three out of four Texans think local police should help enforce immigration law, and nearly half think citizen border patrols such as the Minutemen are a good thing, according to a new statewide poll.

The Scripps Howard Texas Poll also found that 79 percent of state residents think the U.S. government is not doing enough to stop "unauthorized immigration."

But exactly half of those polled said they support a program that would allow illegal immigrants to stay temporarily if they have a job no one else wants. President Bush has proposed a guest-worker plan along those lines, and Congress is expected to take up the issue next year.

"Texans are very concerned about illegal immigration, but they're divided on how to resolve it," pollster Ty Meighan said.

The poll of 1,000 adult Texans was taken from Nov. 14 to Nov. 30 and has a 3 percentage point margin of error.

Meighan said the poll clearly shows state residents want local police checking immigration papers.

"Texans believe the police should be there to enforce the laws, whether it be the traffic laws or the immigration laws," he said.

The Houston Police Department has a policy preventing officers from enforcing immigration law.

City Councilman Mark Ellis has introduced a resolution that would require the police and other city institutions to check immigration papers. Ellis' resolution drew heated debate in a council meeting last week. Even Ellis said he was surprised to hear that 75 percent of Texans support having police help enforce immigration law, compared with 19 percent who oppose it.

"The public clearly feels municipal, state and federal governments should be working together on immigration," said Ellis, who noted that he became concerned about the issue when an illegal immigrant without a driver's license rear-ended his car earlier this year. The Houston police officer who arrived to investigate told Ellis he couldn't arrest the immigrant for being in the country illegally.

But immigration advocates suggest the question may have been misleading because those polled were asked whether they think local and state police should "help" federal officials enforce immigration law.

"I might answer yes to that question," said City Councilman Gordon Quan, who opposes Ellis on the issue. Though HPD policy forbids street officers from asking about immigration status, officers are permitted to assist federal immigration officials if they have prior approval, Quan noted.

"There's a misperception that we do not help federal officials," he said.

The poll found that even a majority of Hispanics and Democrats support police helping in immigration enforcement. A total of 59 percent of Hispanics answered yes, compared with 77 percent of whites and 73 percent of blacks.

The poll also found that 47 percent of Texans favor and 49 oppose having citizens patrol the border. The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, an Arizona group, mounted patrols on the Texas border and inland in October.

"You can't get much more divided than Texans are on this issue," Meighan said.

Whites and Republicans were far more likely to support the Minutemen. Among whites, 51 percent supported having civilians patrol the border. Only 25 percent of Hispanics and 37 percent of blacks said they approve of civilian patrols.

Also, 60 percent of Republicans supported the Minutemen, compared with 31 percent of Democrats and 44 percent of independents.