Thread: Border hispanics favor lenient stategies...

http://www.lcsun-news.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 30317/1001

Poll: Hispanics favor lenient strategies toward immigration
By Diana M. Alba SUN-NEWS REPORTER
Apr 23, 2006, 05:37 am


Hispanics and non-Hispanics in New Mexico have broadly different views about how to solve illegal immigration problems in the country, according to a statewide poll conducted earlier this month by New Mexico State University students.

Sharp splits in opinion among Democrat and Republican residents also exist.

Hispanics tended to favor more lenient strategies toward immigrants, such as creating a guest worker program or giving immigrants some form of legal status. They were also more likely to oppose the Minutemen than non-Hispanics.


Some 555 households across the state were polled by students in a political research methods class.

Given five options for how to best shrink illegal immigration, both Hispanics and non-Hispanics favored creating a guest worker program over other choices, such as deporting them or penalizing employers. However, 57 percent of Hispanics favored the program, compared to 43 percent of non-Hispanics.

Deporting immigrants was the third most popular choice among non-Hispanics, but with Hispanics, it tied for last place along with building a fence along the border.

"My sense from looking at the data is that Hispanics are highly polarized on (the immigration) issue," said Jose Z. Garcia, the NMSU government professor who supervised the poll. "Hispanics are very strongly against punitive measures for illegal immigrants."

An even greater difference appeared when political parties were examined. Nearly 36 percent of Republicans supported a worker program -- about 20 percent less than Democrats.

Jeff Steinborn, former chairman of the Doña Ana County Democratic Party and a candidate for a state representative seat, said the results didn't surprise him. Within the immigration debate, people tend to be split between wanting to accommodate immigrants and finding a way to secure the country's borders, which is represented in the poll.

"I think both camps are valid, and we need policies that are a compromise," he said.

Sid Goddard, chair of the Republican Party of Doña Ana County, said some of the results appear to differ greatly from other national poll results on immigration. He said he wants more information about how the poll was conducted, something lawmakers should also find out.

"It is information, and we need to keep it in mind," he said. "The information would lead me to ask other questions."

Garcia, who has analyzed politics in the state for the past 30 years, said as poll results stand, if the immigration issue were to take center stage in an election or campaign debate, Democrats would likely have an edge. Hispanics make up more than one-third of the state voters and 42 percent of the population.

"If you were a Republican strategist, you'd probably be likely to lower the temperature on it," he said. "The lesson is you should move more toward the center on this issue. If you're a Democrat, you're going to try to raise the profile on this."

Garcia said Republican candidates wouldn't necessarily be at a disadvantage. Another question from the survey involved respondents assigning a one-to-five score for the importance of several nationwide issues. Immigration received an average rating of 3.52, behind five other topics, including health care, jobs and the Iraq war.

Tracy Parish, 23, a government major at NMSU, said besides learning how to conduct a poll, she also realized how much of an opinion divide exists among ethnicities.

"In order for something to be done in this state, both of those views will have to be taken into consideration," she said.

Students also asked callers whether immigrants should be required to return to their own country or be granted a legal status. Of Hispanics, 23 percent thought immigrants should have to return, a rate that doubled among non-Hispanic respondents.

Overall in the state, residents were split almost equally as to whether they approved of the Minutemen patrolling U.S. borders. Differences appeared when ethnicities were examined. About 25 percent of Hispanics approved of Minutemen, compared to 61 percent of non-Hispanics.

Paul Martinez, president of the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said the poll results sound reasonable.

"I think it's accurate as far as what New Mexicans feel as a whole," he said. "It's good to have a poll by the university. It gives us more of a look of things."


About the poll
-- 555 New Mexico residents were polled by phone by members of a political research methods class at New Mexico State University
-- Names were selected from phone lists.
-- NMSU students tried to match the pool's makeup to census demographics in order to obtain a representative sample.
-- Women were slightly over-represented, and Hispanics were slightly under-represented.
-- Poll has an error rate of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
-- Surveys were conducted on April 10-13 and April 17-18.

Jose Z. Garcia, the NMSU government professor who supervised the poll. "Hispanics are very strongly against punitive measures for illegal immigrants."

says it all

This University of New Mexicico poll if true shows something a paradox. The position of Sherrif is chosen by election. Border county sherrifs are heavily Hispanic. The Border sherrifs have taken a strict position against illegal immigration. A discrepancy like this points to the students having used a push poll.