61% Of Northwest Residents Support Arizona Immigration Law

BY TOM BANSE

Woodland, WA June 21, 2010 6 a.m.

A new opinion survey for public radio shows people in the Northwest strongly support Arizona's new immigration law. But there are mixed feelings in the Northwest about whether our region should copy Arizona's "get tough" approach.

The Arizona law makes it a state crime to be in this country illegally and directs police to question suspected violators. Tom Banse found a microcosm of the regional views on immigration in one small Northwest town.

For most people, Woodland is just a place to stop for cheap gas along Interstate 5 in southwest Washington. But if you stop and linger, you'll find a surprisingly diverse small town.

Third generation berry farmers live near people who commute to downtown Portland for work...who in turn live near underemployed construction and mill workers.

Woodland also has a growing Hispanic population.

The mixture verged on combustible at a Woodland City Council meeting recently.

Council members pondered a resolution to endorse Arizona's immigration crackdown and urge the Washington Legislature to follow suit.

Patricia Potter: "The law opens the door to the indiscriminate use of racial profiling against individuals that look or sound foreign."

David Birkhead: "If you came to this country illegally, you started off on the wrong foot. You need to go back home, do the paperwork and come back the right way."

Wanda Fournier: "A lot of these people who are coming in illegally, they're getting medical coupons. They're getting food stamps... They're getting all kinds of things that is provided through our tax system. It has to stop! It has to stop somewhere."

That meeting testimony mirrors the responses we got in a just completed survey. Our pollster asked 1,200 ordinary people in Washington, Oregon and Idaho what they think of Arizona's immigration law.

Northwesterners are clearly supportive. 61 percent expressed support versus 35 percent opposed.

Our survey is a collaboration of the Northwest Health Foundation, the polling firm Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall and Northwest public radio stations.

Arizona's law takes effect next week. It directs police to question people whom they have reason to suspect are in the U.S. illegally.

We also asked people here in the Northwest whether our states should pass something similar. Roughly half of the total number of people we surveyed said we should copy Arizona's "get tough" approach.

City council member Benjamin Fredericks instigated the controversial resolution to that effect in Woodland.

Benjamin Fredericks: "It obviously isn't working from the top down. The federal government is ignoring current law. That's why I believe Arizona has the right to pass their own laws. This may be an effort to start from the bottom up. What I'd like to see from Olympia is that they take this on."

Woodland retiree Norma Brunson agrees illegal immigration is out of hand. But she says local Hispanic families are good people.

Tom Banse: "Should Washington State copy Arizona?"

Norma Brunson: "No, we're not a border town. That's the way I feel. Number one, we're not a border town. That's not our business."

In the end, the Woodland city council voted down the resolution that would have urged the legislature to copy Arizona's tough enforcement approach.

Juan Barela is a counselor and human rights activist in Woodland. He says the region's interest in Arizona's immigration enforcement stance has awakened the Northwest's Latino community.

Juan Barela: "Now we are galvanized, united. We are strong and we're getting the vote."

Regionwide, 77 percent of those we polled described immigration reform as an "urgent" issue.

Another way that passion is expressed is through the citizen initiative process. Volunteers in Washington State are gathering signatures for a measure -- Initiative 1056 -- that would require all employers to check the immigration status of new hires through the government's e-verify service. Same for recipients of public benefits.

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