Immigration

Polls listed chronologically. Data are from nationwide surveys of Americans 18 & older.

Gallup Poll. June 5-July 6, 2008. N=1,935 adults nationwide, including oversamples of blacks and Hispanics weighted to reflect their proportions in the general population. MoE ą 4.
						.
"Thinking now about immigrants -- that is, people who come from other countries to live here in the United States: In your view, should immigration be kept at its present level, increased or decreased?"
						.
		Present Level	Increased	Decreased	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	6/5 - 7/6/08	39	18	39	3
	6/4-24/07	35	16	45	4
	6/8-25/06	42	17	39	2
	4/7-9/06	35	15	47	4
	12/9-11/05	31	15	51	3
	6/6-25/05	34	16	46	4
	6/04	33	14	49	4
	6/03	37	13	47	3
	6/02	36	12	49	3
	10/01	30	8	58	4
	6/01	42	14	41	3
	3/01	41	10	43	6
	9/00	41	13	38	8
						.
"On the whole, do you think immigration is a good thing or a bad thing for this country today?"
						.
		Good Thing	Bad Thing	Mixed (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	6/5 - 7/6/08	64	30	4	2
	6/4-24/07	60	33	3	4
	6/8-25/06	67	28	4	1
	6/6-25/05	61	34	3	2
	6/03	58	36	4	2
	6/02	52	42	4	2
	6/01	62	31	5	2
						.
"Now, thinking specifically about illegal immigrants, which comes closer to your point of view? Illegal immigrants in the long-run become productive citizens and pay their fair share of taxes. OR, Illegal immigrants cost the taxpayers too much by using government services like public education and medical services." Options rotated
						.
		Pay Fair Share	Cost Too Much	Neither/ Both (vol.)/Unsure
		%	%	%
	6/5 - 7/6/08	31	63	6
	6/8-25/06	29	66	4
						.
"Which comes closer to your view? Illegal immigrants mostly take jobs that American workers want. OR, Illegal immigrants mostly take low-paying jobs Americans don't want." Options rotated
						.
		Jobs Americans Want	Jobs Americans Don't Want	Neither/ Both (vol.)/Unsure
		%	%	%
	6/5 - 7/6/08	15	79	7
	6/8-25/06	17	74	10

CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. June 26-29, 2008. N=1,026 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
					.
"Now thinking about immigration, would you favor or oppose building a fence along 700 miles of the border with Mexico?"
					.
		Favor	Oppose	Unsure
		%	%	%
	6/26-29/08	52	47	1
	9/29 - 10/2/06	54	44	2

Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs. March 3-5, 2008. N=1,013 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.1.
						.
"Do you favor or oppose building a fence along 670 miles of the border between the United States and Mexico?"
						.
		Favor	Oppose	Unsure
		%	%	%
	3/3-5/08	49	48	3

						.
"If a fence were built along the border between the United States and Mexico, how confident are you that such a fence would reduce the number of illegal immigrants . . . ?"
						.
		Very Confident	Somewhat Confident	Not Too Confident	Not at All Confident	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	3/3-5/08	10	34	26	29	1
	3/28-30/06	6	26	29	38	1

CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Jan. 14-17, 2008. N=1,393 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
						.
"Would you like to see the number of illegal immigrants currently in this country increased, decreased, or remain the same?"
						.
		Increased	Decreased	Same	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	1/14-17/08	5	65	29	1
	10/12-14/07	7	69	22	2
	10/20-22/06	5	67	27	1
	6/8-11/06	2	67	26	6

ABC News/Facebook poll. Dec. 16-19, 2007. N=1,142 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3. Fieldwork by TNS.
					.
"Would you support or oppose a program giving illegal immigrants now living in the United States the right to live here legally if they pay a fine and meet other requirements?"
					.
		Support	Oppose	Unsure
		%	%	%
	12/16-19/07	49	46	5
	9/27-30/07	58	35	7

NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Bill McInturff (R). Dec. 14-17, 2007. N=1,008 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.1.
						.
"Would you say that immigration helps the United States more than it hurts it, or immigration hurts the United States more than it helps it?"
						.
		Helps More Than Hurts	Hurts More Than Helps	Unsure
		%	%	%
	12/14-17/07	39	52	9
	6/8-11/07	46	44	10
	7/21-24/06	45	42	13
	6/9-12/06	44	45	11
	4/21-24/06	45	45	10
	12/05	37	53	10
						.
"Which of these statements comes closer to your point of view? Statement A: Immigration is an economic benefit to the United States because immigrant workers fulfill jobs in America that citizens either do not want or cannot do. Statement B: Immigration is an economic threat to the United States because immigrant workers take jobs that would otherwise be fulfilled by American citizens."
						.
		Economic Benefit	Economic Threat	Depends/ Both (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	12/14-17/07	40	43	13	4
	3/31 - 4/3/05	46	45	7	2

*Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg* Poll. Nov. 30-Dec. 3, 2007. N=1,245 registered voters nationwide. MoE ą 3.
					.
"Which party do you think can do a better job of handling immigration issues?"
					.
		Democrats	Republicans	Both Equally (vol.)	Neither (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	11/30 - 12/3/07	30	31	8	18	13
	9/16-19/06	38	31	5	14	12
	6/24-27/06 Adults	34	23	8	17	18
					.
"Would you say that legal immigrants who live in your community have had a mainly positive or a mainly negative impact on community life, or haven't they affected it one way or the other?"
					.
		Positive	Negative	No Impact	None in Community (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	11/30 - 12/3/07	46	12	31	3	8
					.
"Would you say that illegal immigrants who live in your community have had a mainly positive or a mainly negative impact on community life, or haven't they affected it one way or the other?"
					.
		Positive	Negative	No Impact	None in Community (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	11/30 - 12/3/07	21	36	29	5	9
					.
"Compared to other problems facing the country, how big a problem is illegal immigration? Would you say it is one of the most important problems facing the country, or is it an important problem but not one of the most important, or is it not all that important, or is it not important at all?"
					.
		One of Most Important	Important	Not All That Important	Not Important At All	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	11/30 - 12/3/07	27	54	11	6	2
	6/7-10/07 Adults	31	55	10	3	1
	6/24-27/06 Adults	32	55	8	5	-
					.
"One proposal that has been discussed in Congress would allow illegal immigrants who have been living and working in the United States for a number of years, and who do not have a criminal record, to start on a path to citizenship by registering that they are in the country, paying a fine, getting fingerprinted, and learning English, among other requirements. Do you support or oppose this, or haven't you heard enough about it to say?"
					.
		Support	Oppose	Unsure
		%	%	%
	11/30 - 12/3/07	60	15	25
					.
"Considering all you know about illegal immigration, generally speaking, what do you think, if anything, is the most effective measure in dealing with the issue of illegal immigration? Should the focus be on more border security, or more arrests and deportations, or sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrants, or a guest worker program for some businesses such as agriculture, or a pathway to citizenship with certain requirements?" Two responses accepted
					.
			%
	More border security		31
	Sanctions against employers		27
	Pathway to citizenship		27
	Guest worker program		18
	More arrests and deportations		16
	Other (vol.)		2
	Nothing is effective		2
	Unsure		8

CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Oct. 12-14, 2007. N=1,212 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
					.
"Do you think state governments should or should not issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants?"
					.
		Should	Should Not	Unsure
		%	%	%
	10/12-14/07	23	76	1
					.
"When state or local police forces encounter illegal immigrants who have not broken any state or local laws, do you think the police should or should not arrest those people and turn them over to the federal government?"
					.
		Should	Should Not	Unsure
		%	%	%
	10/12-14/07	55	43	1
					.
"Do you think people who cannot read or write English should be permitted to vote, or not?"
					.
		Permitted	Not Permitted	Unsure
		%	%	%
	10/12-14/07	45	55	1

ABC News Poll. Sept. 27-30, 2007. N=1,035 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3 (for all adults). Fieldwork by ICR.
						.
"Do you think the United States is or is not doing enough to keep illegal immigrants from coming into this country?"
						.
		Doing Enough	Not Doing Enough	Unsure
		%	%	%
	9/27-30/07	22	67	11
						.
"Overall, do you think ILLEGAL immigrants do more to help the country or do more to hurt the country?" Options rotated. Half sample.
						.
		Help	Hurt	Neither Helps Nor Hurts (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	9/27-30/07	34	54	6	7
						.
"Overall, do you think LEGAL immigrants do more to help the country or do more to hurt the country?" Options rotated. Half sample.
						.
		Help	Hurt	Neither Helps Nor Hurts (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	9/27-30/07	59	26	5	9
						.
"How often do you personally come in contact with people in this country who mostly speak Spanish rather than English: often, sometimes, rarely or never?"
						.
		Often	Sometimes	Rarely	Never
		%	%	%	%
	9/27-30/07	55	23	17	5
						.
	Asked of those who answered "often" or "sometimes": "When that happens, does it bother you, or not bother you?"
						.
		Bothers	Does Not Bother	Unsure
		%	%	%
	9/27-30/07	33	66	1
						.
"If you honestly assessed yourself, would you say that you have at least some feelings of prejudice against Hispanics?"
						.
		Yes