Thread: Immigration-poll distortion

The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

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Immigration-poll distortion
Published May 30, 2007

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The New York Times continues to struggle to keep its editorial-page agenda out of the news-section immigration debate. On Friday, the Times ran an above-the-fold, front-page story, "Immigration Bill Provisions Gain Wide Support in Poll: Majority Favors Path to Legal Status for Illegal Aliens." The findings, of an NYT/CBS News poll, show that "there is broad support among Americans -- Democrats, Republicans and independents alike -- for the major provisions in the legislation." Taking a "pragmatic" view "on a divisive issue," the article said, "a large majority of Americans want to change the immigration laws to allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status and to create a new guest worker program to meet future labor demands."
But a careful reading of some of the questions highlighted by the newspaper suggests they were skewed. Poll question No. 1 asks: "Would you favor or oppose a guest worker program?" Sixty-six percent of Americans said yes. But what exactly does this mean? The question only mentions a "guest worker program." But it is unclear whether the respondents even know what a guest-worker program is, or whether they knew that the beneficiaries of such a program include millions of illegal aliens. Would Americans have voted by more than two to one in favor of in favor of a question framed as follows: "Would you favor or oppose a guest-worker program that would benefit illegal immigrants?" We wonder.
Another question featured asks: "Should illegal immigrants get a renewable visa if they pay a fine, have a clean record and pass a background check?" Unsurprisingly, 67 percent responded "yes," while just 27 percent were opposed. But the agency that would likely be responsible for overseeing the program, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, has been skewered by the Government Accountability Office and other investigators, and it is entirely possible (even likely) that some of those who "pass a background check" will be undesirables who pass due to the poor quality of bureaucratic recordkeeping. How does such a question translate into a political mandate for Teddy Kennedy and President Bush?
Buried on inside pages of the NYT or omitted from the print version were findings that contradicted the front-page lead of the story. Eighty-two percent of those surveyed believe the federal government could be doing more to "keep illegal immigrants from crossing into this country." Sixty-one percent consider illegal immigration a "very serious" problem for the United States, while 75 percent favor higher fines and increased enforcement being directed at employers who knowingly hire illegals. These findings are consistent with virtually all other polling on immigration. Last week, Rasmussen Reports released data showing that 72 percent of Americans believe it is "very important" for the United States to "improve border enforcement and reduce illegal immigration." By a 2-1 margin, Americans believe that it is more important to gain control of the nation's borders than to "legalize the status of undocumented workers already living in the United States."
As Rasmussen and some of the Times' own polling suggest, there is plenty of reason to believe Americans are highly skeptical of the open-borders agenda. Politicians who base their votes on the dubious political spin by the New York Times may be in for a rude awakening.

http://washingtontimes.com/functions/pr ... 5333-3020r

New Poll Shows Public Opposes Senate Immigration Bill
The Rasmussen poll finds that after two weeks of debate and a major offensive by Bush and Chertoff:


Approval rating of Senate Bill S. 1348 remains at only 26%

Only 16% believe the Bill will reduce illegal immigration

66% believe it doesn't make sense to debate new immigration laws, until we can first control our borders and enforce existing laws

82% believe the federal government could do more to reduce illegal immigration.

41% believe the Senate bill will lead to an increase in illegal immigration

75% want to "make changes to increase border security measures and reduce illegal immigration"

29% want to "make it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the country and eventually become citizens"

72% of voters believe it is Very Important for "the government to improve its enforcement of the borders and reduce illegal immigration"

68% of Americans believe it is possible to reduce illegal immigration, while just 20% disagree

81% of American voters closely follow news stories about the issue, including 37% who are following it Very Closely.

Since the immigration debate began dominating the news, Senator John McCain, who strongly supports the Senate bill, slipped into third place in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination. President Bush's Job Approval ratings fell to the lowest levels of his Administration.

See the full details of this Rasmussen poll
http://newsblaze.com/story/200705310904 ... ories.html

"Should illegal immigrants get a renewable visa if they pay a fine, have a clean record and pass a background check?"

According to this Bill, illegal aliens would get immediate legal status without even paying a fine and could stay here indefinitely. They only have to jump through hoops if they apply for a green card.

So, that poll question doesn't even reflect what's in the Bill.

Great find! Just what we needed today!

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