Thread: TX: The divide over immigration among the faithful

http://blogs.chron.com/immigration/arch ... gration%29

Jan 4, 2010

Beyond abortion, immigration seems to be the social issue that resonates most with the Catholic Church.

You'll recall that Catholic Church leaders were instrumental in the immigration protests of 2006 in the U.S. Church leaders have not been shy about advocating for comprehensive immigration reform, including a path toward legalization for illegal immigrants.

Jewish and Protestant leaders have pushed similar positions.

But do the attitudes of rank-and-file church-goers match that of their leaders?

Not that much, according to a new Zogby poll.

American Jews and Christians hold views about illegal immigration that are largely at odds with those of their spiritual leaders, according to a new poll from Zogby International. The poll showed that while most religious leaders saw illegal immigration as a problem caused by barriers to legal immigration, most worshippers thought a lack of enforcement of current law was the problem; and while leaders thought employers needed access to more immigrant labor, rank-and-file members thought employers needed to attract more domestic workers. Steven A. Camarota, the research director for the nonpartisan Center for Immigration Studies said the results revealed a "huge divide" between religious leaders and the general religious population, although one that had been telegraphed in policy debates before. "The huge divide between rank-and-file Jews and Christians and many of their leaders is actually not that surprising," Camarota said in his analysis. "Prior research shows a very significant divide between opinions of the public and of elites on the issue of immigration. Religious groups follow this same pattern."

A summary of findings as outlined by the Center for Immigration Studies:

When asked to choose between enforcement that would cause illegal immigrants to go home over time or a conditional pathway to citizenship, most members of religious communities choose enforcement.

Catholics: 64 percent support enforcement to encourage illegals to go home; 23 percent support conditional legalization.

Mainline Protestants: 64 percent support enforcement; 24 percent support conditional legalization.

Born-Again Protestants: 76 percent support enforcement; 12 percent support conditional legalization.

Jews: 43 percent support enforcement; 40 percent support conditional legalization.

In contrast to many religious leaders, most members think immigration is too high.

Catholics: 69 percent said immigration is too high; 4 percent said too low; 14 percent just right.

Mainline Protestants: 72 percent said it is too high; 2 percent said too low; 11 percent just right.

Born-Again Protestants: 78 percent said it is too high; 3 percent said too low; 9 percent just right.

Jews: 50 percent said it is too high; 5 percent said is too low; 22 percent just right.

It would be interesting what athiest would say.

The descrepancy is between ivory-tower intelectuals that live off the system VS. real Americans that have to fight for jobs against the illegal invaders, who have to fear illegal invader drunk drivers and other illegal invader crimes. The prople who have to live in the real world are against amnesty and want the illegal invaders deported!!


WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?