Thread: Poll shows views on immigration not unique to US 75% amnesty

75% of Americans are against a guest worker program.

Poll shows views on immigration not unique to U.S.

By Hernán Rozemberg - Express-News Europeans and Americans are equally concerned about the impact that immigrants have on their societies, a new survey released Tuesday found.

The U.S.-based German Marshall Fund teamed up with European counterparts to take a transatlantic look at how immigration is playing at this time of transition, from an incoming new president in the United States to significant immigration policy changes in several European nations. Survey

The survey determined that people in both continents feel passionately about immigration, sharing concerns about higher rates of illegal entries and setting clearer parameters on who's allowed to stay.

“As the top destinations for migrants, the United States and Europe face the same challenges on immigration and integration and can learn from each other,â€

The survey also found that while many politicians back creating temporary worker programs, the public despises the idea.

ISNT THAT THE TRUTH!

We need some digging done on this survey. This is a knock out punch for our team!

W

Also found at the link Dixie shows.

Survey: Americans, Europeans divided on immigration as problem or opportunity; see benefits, concerns

Economy, crime are biggest issues; Culture, diversity seen as assets; Language skills and job offer important for admittance; Majorities favor permanent settlement over temporary migration schemes


WASHINGTON, DC (November 17, 200 - A new survey released today shows that that 50% of Americans and 47% of Europeans think immigration is more of a problem than an opportunity, but a closer look shows nuanced views of immigration and integration on both sides of the Atlantic and marked differences within Europe.


Seven years after Sept. 11, majorities on both sides of the Atlantic do not believe that immigration increases the likelihood of terrorism; only 35% of Europeans and 40% of Americans say that more immigration leads to increased risk of terrorism. On the other hand, 52% of Europeans say that immigration will increase crime in their society, and they were joined by 47% of Americans.


The inaugural Transatlantic Trends: Immigration (http://www.transatlantictrends.org/) public opinion survey addresses immigration and integration issues including national identity, citizenship, migration management policies, national security, and the economic opportunities and challenges brought on by migrants.


"As the top destinations for migrants, the United States and Europe face the same challenges of immigration and integration, and can learn from each other," said Craig Kennedy, president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. "And in this time of concern about the economy and national security, the topic of immigration is especially salient. This survey will call attention to the development of fair, coherent policies that will affect migrants at both the domestic and international levels."


Transatlantic Trends: Immigration is a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, with support from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation (U.S.), the Compagnia di San Paolo (Italy), and the Barrow Cadbury Trust (U.K.). It measures broad public opinion in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland.


Other key findings include:


IMMIGRATION is "MORE OF A PROBLEM" FOR ALL BUT THE FRENCH AND THE DUTCH

The average European response is similar to U.S. opinion on whether immigration is "more of a problem" or "more of an opportunity," with 47% in Europe and 50% in the United States saying it is "more of a problem." However, the European average masks differing views among European countries on this issue. The United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Poland all have majorities or pluralities defining immigration as "more of a problem," while pluralities in both France (46%) and the Netherlands (42%) say it is "more of an opportunity."


ILLEGAL, NOT LEGAL, IMMIGRATION IS THE BIGGEST CONCERN ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC

Real anxiety about legal immigration exists, but it is dwarfed by concerns about illegal immigration: more than 40% of respondents on both sides of the Atlantic express concern only about illegal-not legal-immigration. Additionally, significant numbers of respondents in Europe (29%) and the United States (37%) are not worried about either legal or illegal immigration.


U.S. AND EUROPE AGREE: JOB AND LANGUAGE SKILLS ARE IMPORTANT FOR ADMITTANCE

In an era when points-based immigration systems are frequently discussed, respondents were asked to rate a number of characteristics for potential immigrants. They were not asked to rank the criteria, but rather to attribute importance to each characteristic separately. An overall majority across the Atlantic underlines the importance of having a job offer before being admitted to the country (87% in Europe and 77% in the United States). Another criterion for admittance deemed equally important is knowledge of the national language (87% in Europe and 89% in the United States).


TEMPORARY LABOR SCHEMES ARE NOT SUPPORTED BY ANY COUNTRY

While policymakers are increasingly proposing policies to admit workers on a temporary basis, support for these policies among the public is not found in this survey. Only 26% in Europe and 27% in the United States think that legal immigrants should be admitted temporarily and then be required to return to their country of origin. In fact, 64% in Europe and 62% in the United States favor giving legal immigrants the opportunity to stay permanently.


COOPERATION WITH SENDING COUNTRIES GETS CLEAR "NO" IN THE U.S., MIXED REVIEWS IN EUROPE

A majority of Americans (56%) favor the United States managing immigration on its own, a sentiment shared by Democrats and Republicans alike. Indeed, only 32% in the United States think that migration should be managed in cooperation with immigrants' countries of origin. In Europe, a majority (57%) support joint management with source countries, and only 40% favor management of immigration by their country alone. The higher support for joint management is driven mainly by the EU border countries of France (74%), Italy (73%), and Poland (58%), while Germany is split, with 50% for joint management and 48% against. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands are the outliers in the surveyed European countries, as they clearly favor national sovereignty on the management of migration (54% and 74%, respectively, favor a unilateral approach).


OVERALL SUPPORT FOR POLITICAL PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL BENEFITS FOR IMMIGRANTS

Majorities in Europe and the United States support a policy of guaranteeing that legal immigrants "have the same rights to political participation as the country's citizens" (58% in Europe and 59% in the United States). Germans, however, were split, with 48% supporting and 50% opposing the policy. A close look at the U.S. opposition (37% overall) to granting political participation to immigrants reveals that 27% "strongly oppose" the measure. Nearly the same can be said for the United Kingdom, where the measure found overall support, but 22% of British respondents say they "strongly oppose" it.


A similar trend in the United States and the United Kingdom appears when respondents were asked whether immigrants should have access to the same social benefits as national citizens. While European and U.S. public opinion again supports this measure (73% in Europe and 63% in the United States), the portion of Americans who oppose it (34%) includes a high number of "strongly oppose" (24%). The same pattern holds true for the United Kingdom, where 57% supports access to the same social benefits as national citizens, but 26% "strongly oppose" the policy. Elsewhere in Europe, the highest support overall for granting social benefits is found in Italy (90%), the Netherlands (83%), and France (81%).


AMERICANS CONNECT CITIZENSHIP TO NATIONALITY MORE THAN EUROPEANS

On the issue of whether citizenship is important to one's national identity, Europeans and Americans diverge slightly, with 95% of U.S. respondents and 81% of European respondents agreeing that it is. A more striking difference surfaces when one compared those Americans and Europeans who responded that they feel citizenship is "very important" to national identity, with 79% of Americans and only 48% of Europeans answering as such. For Americans, there is a much more intense connection between citizenship and national identity.



For the full report and top-line data, see www.transatlantictrends.org



SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS

Transatlantic Trends: Immigration is a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (www.gmfus.org), with support from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation (www.bradleyfdn.org), the Compagnia di San Paolo (www.compagnia.torino.it), and the Barrow Cadbury Trust (www.bctrust.org.uk).


METHODOLOGY

TNS Opinion was commissioned to conduct the survey using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews in all countries except Poland, where lower telephone penetration necessitated the use of face-to-face interviews. In each country, a random sample of approximately 1,000 men and women, 18 years of age and older, was interviewed. Interviews were conducted between August 29, 2008, and September 29, 2008. For results based on the national samples in each of the seven countries surveyed, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. For results based on the total European sample (n=6002), the margin of error is plus or minus 1.3 percentage points. The average response rate for all seven countries surveyed was 21%. The results for each country are weighted according to the following sociodemographic criteria: age, gender, region, and level of education within each country. The results for "Europe" are also weighted according to each country's population size relative to the total population of the six European countries surveyed.

http://www.gmfus.org/press/article.cfm? ... ent_type=R

added to homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article3763.html