Percentage favoring less immigration drops
Published: July 27, 2010 at 10:53 AM

A woman holds up her new photo identification card she received at the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund office in Princeton, New Jersey, July 17, 2010. The LALDEF issues id cards to illegal immigrants seeking identification showing their picture and address. The id cards are accepted as proof of residence by a majority of New Jersey officials. UPI/John Anderson


PRINCETON, N.J., July 27 (UPI) -- The percentage of U.S. residents who want decreased immigration has fallen below 50 percent, Gallup reported Tuesday.

Forty-five percent of respondents asked were more likely to say immigration should be decreased, while 34 percent said immigration should be maintained at its current level, and 17 percent said immigration should be increased, results indicated.

The number of people saying immigration should decrease declined 5 percentage points between 2010 and 2009, while the number of people who said immigration levels should be maintained grew 2 percentage points, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

Respondents were more likely to favor rather than oppose Arizona's tough new immigration law that requires law enforcement personnel to check documentation if they suspect someone they've detained is an illegal immigrant, Gallup said. Those surveyed also were more likely to oppose the federal government's lawsuit to lawsuit to block Arizona's law, Gallup said.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 1,020 adults conducted July 8-11. The overall margin of error is 4 percentage points.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/07/ ... 280242432/