Poll: Majority of Americans sympathetic to illegal immigrant

Poll: Majority of Americans sympathetic to illegal immigrants

Updated 41m ago

USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

What should be the U.S. government's main focus in dealing with illegal immigration?

Source: USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 1,049 adults May 1-2. Margin of error: +/- 4 percentage points.

By Alan Gomez, USA TODAY

Americans worry that illegal immigrants are putting a strain on schools, hospitals and the depressed job market but still are sympathetic to their plight.

Eight in 10 Americans, 84%, are very or somewhat concerned that illegal immigrants are burdening government services, and 77% worry that they are driving down wages, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.

Yet 77% are concerned that stricter immigration laws would mean illegal immigrants and their families who have lived productively in the United States for years would be forced to leave

"People seem to be more concerned about that than the hypothetical things like civil rights," Gallup pollster Jeffrey Jones said.

The seemingly contradictory sentiments reflect the difficulty in grappling with the immigration issue, said Tomas Jimenez, a fellow at the New America Foundation think tank and a sociology professor at Stanford University.

"On the one hand, they don't like the idea that people are breaking our immigration laws, that it appears we have a Southern border that is out of control," Jimenez said. "On the other hand, they think the people coming here who work hard, who have dreams of a better life, are really participating in an American tradition that is as old as this country."

The poll of 1,049 adults Saturday and Sunday has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/201 ... poll_N.htm

Quote:

---

Yet 77% are concerned that stricter immigration laws would mean illegal immigrants and their families who have lived productively in the United States for years would be forced to leave

---

Who did they poll, illegal aliens? As an American, I am not concerned at all. Illegal is illegal There is no cut-off point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by butterbean

Quote:

---

Yet 77% are concerned that stricter immigration laws would mean illegal immigrants and their families who have lived productively in the United States for years would be forced to leave

---

Who did they poll, illegal aliens? As an American, I am not concerned at all. Illegal is illegal There is no cut-off point.

---

That is what I wonder. If you live with lots of them in your city and/or state your feelings are totally different. When they write about illegals in the south Florida papers and you can comment on it over 90% say they should be deported. If people here immigrated here legally they are even more upset by the illegals as they know what it is like to go through the system.

Look at the name of the person who wrote the article.
That might have something to do with the tone of it.

The GALLUP POLLs are completely WRONG! You can see this polling data conflicts with all the other data.

It is not that American citizens are conflicted as a reason for the inverted Gallup poll readings.

It is that Gallup is corrupted.

W

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by swatchick

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by butterbean

Quote:

---

Yet 77% are concerned that stricter immigration laws would mean illegal immigrants and their families who have lived productively in the United States for years would be forced to leave

---

Who did they poll, illegal aliens? As an American, I am not concerned at all. Illegal is illegal There is no cut-off point.

---

That is what I wonder. If you live with lots of them in your city and/or state your feelings are totally different. When they write about illegals in the south Florida papers and you can comment on it over 90% say they should be deported. If people here immigrated here legally they are even more upset by the illegals as they know what it is like to go through the system.

---

I concur with Swatchick on this one. At LEAST 80-90% of comments left on any story involving IA's are against them being here in every newspaper in every state in the nation. The ones who are screaming "racists" are shut out.

A person can sympathize with the plight of the illegal without believing they should be given legal status. It is not an all or nothing thing. If you sympathize with the overall plight of the illegal, it is emotionally difficult to, at the same time, say they should be deported. And if you believe they should all be deported, then it is emotionally difficult to look at the human side.

This is me: I feel sorry for illegals in that many are just trying to survive. They come from countries that have zero opportunities. Many thought it was ok to come here illegally because everyone seemed to be doing it. When everyone does it, it becomes socially acceptable. So I do feel sorry for the overall plight of the illegal. BUT...they have to go home. ALL OF THEM have to go home. Our country made a mistake allowing this to occur. We let unregulated corporations run the show and it has brought our country to its knees financially and socially. They have to go home. I am sorry there are no opportunities in their birth countries. I am sorry they were lured by the traffickers of cheap labor. I wish them well. But still they must go before our country becomes completely like the desolate third world pot holes that they are trying to escape. It is time to save our country from going off the cliff. We have to do what we have to do. Period.

So when it comes to this poll, I think it reflects that emotional struggle. Americans are not a cruel people. Many do feel sorry for the illegal alien. But we all know what MUST be done. NO AMNESTY. NO MORE ILLEGAL ENTRANCE.

The question I have is, where was this poll taken? That, in combination with gallup's possible bias in this, could lead to drastically different results than reality.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ReaganWasRight

The question I have is, where was this poll taken? That, in combination with gallup's possible bias in this, could lead to drastically different results than reality.

---

Polls are always biased. Polls use to be done to find information, but that is no longer true. These days polls are done to fullfill an agenda. That does not mean that some of them are not accurate, just that the final numbers are meaningless without full information about who did the poll and why...and how the poll was conducted. Beginning with the questionnaire and source of participants. For instance, if you ask one question on a liberal web site you will get a completely different result then you would get on a conservative site. So when it comes to gallup polls, the final result means nothing until you know who PAID for the study to be done and you can view the complete questionnaire. You also need to know how the sampling was sourced. Without those components the final result means nothing at all...it is only one component.

It looks like it was a "push" poll... a commissioned poll where the pollster set out to find a pre ordinated result.

During the Bush amnesty push, there was a CBS commissioned poll that was cited by the media all over the country for the proposition that a majority of Americans favored amnesty. I read the actual poll. There was one question that was entirely confusing and which they obviously used to to claim Americans favored amnesty. They there was a cyrstal clear question about it that found only 24% supported amnesty. That, of course, the media never mentioned.

I decided to do a little research on the illegal immigration polls appearing. In a one month period, out of five polls, one was reported accurately, two were not reported accurately, one was on a different topic entirely, and one did not exist.

Most recently, a LA Times commissioned poll came out and said in CA that a majority now has switched to being pro amnesty. Again I read the poll. First they used compound questions to get answers that would be ambiguous. Then, looking at the demographics of the people they questioned, it became very apparent that the poll was skewed so that it was basically polling mainly the rich.. ie those who benefit from illegal immigration.

I have tried to find this US Today poll on line but nothing is coming up. I will try again in a day or so to see what that poll actually found and if it was skewed in any manner.

If you really want to make a difference go on congress.org if you can and comment on amnesty. I just did and my email is being forwarded. It is more important than a bias poll.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Yet 77% are concerned that stricter immigration laws would mean illegal immigrants and their families who have lived productively in the United States for years would be forced to leave

---

Concerned, or happy?

Wonder how the question was asked...

Q.) Do you think this will cause illegals to leave?
A.) Yes

People are concerned.

Immigration poll: People sympathetic but want security

by Alan Gomez - May. 4, 2010 12:00 AM
USA Today
.

Two-thirds of Americans want the government to do a better job of securing the borders, but they are sympathetic to illegal immigrants who have been working hard and staying out of trouble, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.

Eight in 10 Americans are concerned that illegal immigrants burden schools, hospitals and other government services, and 77 percent worry that they drive down wages, the poll finds.

Yet 77 percent are concerned that stricter laws would mean illegal immigrants and their families who have lived productively in the USA for years would be forced to leave.

The seeming contradiction reflects the difficulty in grappling with the issue, said Tomas Jimenez, a fellow at the non-partisan New America Foundation.

"On the one hand, they don't like the idea that people are breaking our immigration laws, that it appears we have a southern border that is out of control," Jimenez said. "On the other hand, they think the people coming here who work hard, who have dreams of a better life, are really participating in an American tradition that is as old as this country."

In the poll, 68 percent say it is extremely important or very important to halt the flow of illegal immigrants into the country, and 67 percent say it is extremely or very important to develop a plan to deal with about 12 million illegal immigrants in the USA. Yet 74 percent are somewhat or very concerned that tougher immigration laws would lead to harassment of Hispanics.

Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said the numbers mirror the federation's positions against citizenship for illegal immigrants and for denying them jobs and benefits. "Americans want enforcement, but they're fair-minded," he said.

Ali Noorani of the Reform Immigration for America campaign, which supports a process for some illegal immigrants to become citizens, sees a sympathetic response that recognizes a broken system. "People are frustrated, but they don't want to take their frustrations out on the immigrants," he said.

Other findings:

- Sixty-four percent are sympathetic to illegal immigrants. Of Democrats, 75 percent are sympathetic; among Republicans, 46 percent are.

- Eighty percent of all respondents are very or somewhat concerned that allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the USA might encourage others to move here illegally.

Contributing: Paul Overberg, USA TODAY

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... z0mytdU9qT

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... -poll.html

Just because some might show concern certainly doesn't mean they don't agree illegals should be sent packing. I would certainly like to how they ask the questionon this poll.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bettybb

Most recently, a LA Times commissioned poll came out and said in CA that a majority now has switched to being pro amnesty. Again I read the poll. First they used compound questions to get answers that would be ambiguous. Then, looking at the demographics of the people they questioned, it became very apparent that the poll was skewed so that it was basically polling mainly the rich.. ie those who benefit from illegal immigration.

---

That's it. Since the San Francisco Chronicle began its most recent push for amnesty - editorials and Op Ed pieces - I've been writing letters suggesting that they interview people in housing projects re reserving American jobs for Amerrican workers.

One thing which jumped out from the Chron's Open Borders barrage is that there's not one word in it about the plight of the structurally poor or newly poor. IMO illegals taking jobs from Americans is the third rail of Open Borders politics. None of them want to touch it.

If they did touch it, they'd have to accept that illegals are used to depress wages and that, tho employers get lower cost workers, everybody else pays the price in social disruption and the cost of incarcerating young Americans who can't get a job.

Vistalad,

You have hit the nail right on its head. This is all about the monied elite, both Dem and Repub, wanting open borders, a North American Union, keeping American wages low, so they can profit at our expense.