Americans Demand Action on Illegal Immigration

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.c ... emID=11555

(Angus Reid Global Scan) – Many adults in the United States believe their government is not performing properly in the topic of illegal immigration, according to a poll by TNS released by the Washington Post and ABC News. 75 per cent of respondents think the U.S. is not doing enough to keep illegal immigrants from entering the country.

Last month, the Pew Hispanic Center calculated the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States at somewhere between 11.5 million to 12 million.

In December 2005, the House of Representatives passed a bill that seeks to make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally or to help an undocumented person stay in the country. The proposal also calls for the construction of a new 1,100 kilometre fence on the U.S.-Mexico border.

On Apr. 6, several senators announced a compromise package that would place illegal immigrants in three different groups depending on the amount of time they have spent in the U.S. The plan, called the "roots concept" by Republican lawmakers, would favour persons who have lived in the U.S. for more than five years. The proposal was not ratified before a two-week congressional break.

Yesterday, U.S. president George W. Bush criticized Nevada senator Harry Reid for his stance on immigration, declaring, "I was encouraged last week when members of the United States Senate reached a promising bipartisan compromise on comprehensive immigration reform. (...) Unfortunately, the compromise was blocked by the Senate Democratic minority leader."

Reid disagreed with the president, declaring, "President Bush has as much credibility on immigration as he does on Iraq and national security."

Polling Data

On another subject, do you think the United States is or is not doing enough to keep illegal immigrants from coming into this country?



Apr. 2006


Dec. 2005


Aug. 2005

Doing enough


21%


20%


19%

Not doing enough


75%


79%


80%

No opinion


4%


2%


1%

Source: TNS / Washington Post / ABC News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,027 American adults, conducted from Apr. 6 to Apr. 9, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.