Thread: Polls pointing to open minds, if not open arms

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/colu ... i-news-col

Polls pointing to open minds, if not open arms
Published May 4, 2006
Eric Zorn

Loud and diverting though it may be, what the pundits, activists and callers to talk radio have to say about the issue of illegal immigration isn't nearly as important as what public opinion says.

Public opinion is likely to go a long way in shaping the votes of lawmakers now struggling to reform immigration policy without committing political suicide.

Public opinion will guide the strategies of pro- and anti-immigration groups as they look for leverage.

So what is public opinion saying?

I've pored over all the results I could find of recent national polls looking for consensus on at least a few of the questions that divide the nation.

The good news is that I did find a few points upon which a solid majority of Americans seem to agree.

The idea that we should crack down on companies that hire undocumented workers, for instance.

Support for fines or other penalties against employers: CNN (late April), 68 percent; Fox News/Opinion Dynamics (early April), 73 percent; USA Today/Gallup (early April), 84 percent; Time magazine (late March), 71 percent; Rasmussen Reports (this week), 70 percent. Unscientific Tribune "click" poll (this week), 82 percent.

This reflects a realization that it's not wanderlust or our cornucopia of available subscription TV channels that inspires people to sneak into this country, but jobs. All but eliminate those, and we'll have no need to build a wall along the Mexican border.

Americans are sharply split on the wall idea. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal in late April saw 47 percent support; USA Today/Gallup, 48 percent; CBS News (early April), 48 percent; Rasmussen (early April), 57 percent; Time, 56 percent; Fox News, 50 percent.

Across the board, the public seems to consider the widespread presence of illegal immigrants at least a "very serious" problem: Fox News, 60 percent; Time, 66 percent; and Quinnipiac University, 57 percent.

And though there's been much talk of a backlash in public opinion in the aftermath of massive pro-illegal immigrant street demonstrations such as the one in Chicago on Monday, Rasmussen polls taken just before and just after the May Day events showed almost no movement on key questions regarding immigration reform.

The bad news is that there is no sense in some of what looks like consensus. In the Fox poll, for example, 57 percent of respondents want the U.S. to try "to send as many illegal immigrants back to their home countries as possible," yet 69 percent support "allowing illegal immigrants who have jobs in the United States to apply for legal, temporary-worker status."

A Zogby America International poll released Wednesday found 69 percent public approval for the strict crackdown passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, yet 50 percent approval for the compromise proposal in the U.S. Senate that grants green cards to illegal immigrants and puts them on the path to citizenship. (When Zogby asked respondents to choose one or the other, they went 64-30 for the House crackdown).

In the Time poll, 47 percent supported deportation of all illegals, yet 78 percent of respondents said they favored "allowing illegal immigrants now in this country to earn U.S. citizenship if they learn to speak English, have a job and pay taxes."

Yet despite this seeming incoherence, the idea of earned citizenship as supported in Time's poll enjoys significant support in many polls:

The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found 68 percent endorsing a many-strings-attached process to grant citizenship to currently illegal residents. USA Today/Gallup found 63 percent willing to let illegals "remain if [they] meet certain requirements." CBS found 74 percent in favor of allowing illegals to stay if they have "paid a fine, been in the U.S. for at least five years, paid any back taxes they owe, can speak English and have no criminal record." CNN found 77 percent support for a similar proposal. The Associated Press poll found 56 percent in favor of conferring "legal temporary worker status" on illegals, and Rasmussen found 53 percent backing earned citizenship.

Listen closely above the raging din, tune out the noise from conflicting impulses and you'll hear the public speaking in a clear voice: Let's be tough but generous. We can work this out.

E-mail Mr. Zorn quick for he's delusional when he says:

ericzorn@gmail.com

"Listen closely above the raging din, tune out the noise from conflicting impulses and you'll hear the public speaking in a clear voice: Let's be tough but generous. We can work this out."

Part of the problem with the poll is that the public is not seeing the anarchy and revolt brewing in the opposition. They are being spoon fed the nice things.

If they saw, splashed across their TV, those people they are embracing hurting people, promoting communism and screaming hatred, they would change their minds.

Also, I'm sure some of those polls are getting stale. As the illegal supporters get more bad press, then the polls, like the worm will turn.

Dixie

"open minds, open arms"

Nope. Minds are closed, arms are folded....read my mind....get out.