Arizona Republic Poll: Most Arizonans would let immigrants stay in U.S
by Hugh Holub on Jul. 25, 2010, under border issues, politics, SB 1070While support for SB 1070 remains high in Arizona, and interesting sidelight is that most Arizonans also favor reforms to federal immigration law that would allow undocumented aliens already in the country an opportunity to legalize themselves, according to an Arizona Republic poll.
What is really interesting about the poll is the split between Republicans and Democrats about legalizing undocumented folks. According to the poll 43% of Repuiblicans would allow undocumented aliens who have no criminal record a way to stay, whereas 81% of Democrats support a legalization.
The poll also shows that 47% of Republicans in the state want to require undocumented aliens to go home while only 16% of Democrats would kick the undocumented people out of the country.
Poll: Most would let immigrants stay in U.S.
by Ronald J. Hansen and Dennis Wagner – Jul. 25, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona RepublicWhile most Arizonans support Senate Bill 1070, even more of them support allowing working illegal immigrants with no criminal records to remain here, an Arizona Republic poll indicates.
Sixty-two percent of those polled by WestGroup Research support such an option, often derided as “amnesty” by its opponents. By comparison, 31 percent of respondents feel illegal immigrants should be required to return to their native country.
The results are similar to findings from a 2005 Republic poll on the subject. At that time, 66 percent favored allowing illegal immigrants to stay and 30 percent favored expulsion.
In contrast, 55 percent support SB 1070, which is set to take effect Thursday, while 36 percent oppose the law.
The findings may reflect a desire for a multifaceted solution to what many see as the nation’s dysfunctional immigration system.
Kent Shopwell, a 71-year-old retiree, supports SB 1070 and allowing some illegal immigrants already here to stay, though he is conflicted about it.
“It’s taking jobs from us, but there’s a lot of jobs people here don’t want to do,” the Lake Havasu City Republican said.
Veteran Arizona pollster Bruce Merrill said the results are similar to previous polling on the subject.
About two-thirds of Arizonans consistently support tougher border policies, he said.“But when you ask what we should do about the people that are here illegally . . . the irony is that I’ve consistently found that 60 to 65 percent of the people of Arizona support what (Sen. John ) McCain was advocating, sort of an earned-citizenship program.”
In 2006 and 2007, McCain co-sponsored a comprehensive immigration-reform bill that, among other things, would have created a path to citizenship for those already in the country illegally. Those bills, supported by President George W. Bush, failed. During his 2008 presidential campaign and since, McCain has emphasized the need for border security.
The Republic polled Arizonans about other border-control issues as well.
Among the findings:
• There is now public support for a fence or wall along the border, unlike five years ago. In 2005, 52 percent opposed it and 32 percent supported it. Today, 49 percent support the measure and 32 percent oppose it.
• “Substantially increasing” the presence of the U.S. Border Patrol remains a popular idea, with 72 percent supportive and 14 percent opposed. Five years ago, 76 percent supported it and 11 percent were opposed.
• Most Arizonans favor using military personnel along the border, an increase from 2005. In May, President Barack Obama said 1,200 National Guard troops would be deployed to the southwest border, including 524 in Arizona. They are scheduled to arrive Aug. 1.
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July 25th, 2010 on 8:42 am
What a bunch of nonsense!!!!!! I see th eprecntages listed, but how about the actual numbers of people polled – and even then I doubt you cna make th ehonest starment about what most Arizonians want – not unless you poll EVERY Arizonian. Intestingly enough, of the last 12 people in Arizona I spoke with, only 1 was against SB-1070 and only 1 other had mixed feeling abouts sending it. Illegal activity – including crossing borders illegally makes them a criminal and or th eproduct of criminal acitvity – activitity that costs taxpaying citizens. SHIP THEM ALL BACK and let them come back in using lawful means. Read the article Illegal immigrants and cheap tomatoes to see the financial burden of illegal immigrants to see what it costs you to allow illegal immigrants to be here.
July 25th, 2010 on 9:22 am
Amnesty, with conditions, is the only realistic approach to the problem since they have come here at the request of American businesses across the country. This worked for Ronald ‘The Dodger’ Reagan. He may have had dementia, but he wasn’t stupid, nor, in retrospect, was he as filled with spewing hate as those who admire his administration in this time.
America’s agricultural industries are based on, have always been based on, the labor of undocumented workers who have largely been used to break pickers unions over and over again. Get ready to pay more for your food America, as well as your construction costs, domestic servant costs and on and on.
July 25th, 2010 on 9:23 am
…not unless you poll EVERY Arizonian(sic).
Jack, it is certainly possible to skew polling results in various ways. It is also true that the science of statistics allows one to draw conclusions with a degree of certainty in the high nineties based on sampling.
July 25th, 2010 on 9:42 am
I have always understood there are three kinds of lies – Lies, D–n lies, and statistics. Ihave no clue if this poll fits in any of these categories. I guess that would depend on who was polled, exactly.
July 25th, 2010 on 10:06 am
In re polling: the Chief of Statistics at the Census Bureau was called upon to testify before a Congressional Committee on the validity of sampling theory in statistics. eager to make it as easy as possible for the congresspersons to understand, he pointed out that when the Dr. wants to test your blood for various factors, he doesn’t take ALL of your blood, he takes a sample. That is the same theory that underlies polling. For that reason, it is important to know that the sample has been fair drawn so that it does, in fact, represent the population at large. And since nothing is perfect, there is also calculated a “margin of error” which says these data are correct within a certain margin of error.
An excellent example of a badly drawn sample is the polling done in 1936 when Roosevelt ran against Landon. The pollsters all said Landon would win by a large margin. In fact, Roosevelt won – by a large margin. So, you ask, what went wrong? The sample was drawn based on telephone numbers – and in 1936, not everyone had a phone – in fact, it tended to be largely skewed because mostly well to do Republicans had disproportionately more phones – result? unrepresentative sample, bad results.
July 25th, 2010 on 11:34 am
I don’t believe these figures.
August 6th, 2010 on 8:22 pm
Required reading for all illegal immigration supportersAn American working in MexicoFrom the other side of the fence…Received the following from Tom O’Malley, who was a Director with S.W. BELL in Mexico City:
“I spent five years working in Mexico. I worked under a tourist Visa for three months and could legally renew it for three more months. After that you were working illegally. I was technically illegal for three weeks waiting on the FM3 approval.
“During that six months our Mexican and U.S. attorneys were working to secure a permanent work visa called a ‘FM3′. It was in addition to my U.S. passport that I had to show each time I entered and left the country. Barbara’s was the same, except hers did not permit her to work.
“To apply for the FM3, I needed to submit the following notarized originals (not copies):
1. Birth certificate for Barbara and me.
2. Marriage certificate.
3. High school transcripts and proof of graduation.
4. College transcripts for every college I attended and proof of graduation.
5. Two letters of recommendation from supervisors I had worked for at least one year.
6. A letter from the St. Louis Chief of Police indicating that I had no arrest record in the U.S. and no outstanding warrants and, was “a citizen in good standing”.
7. “Finally, I had to write a letter about myself that clearly stated why there was no Mexican citizen with my skills and why my skills were important to Mexico. We called it our ‘I am the greatest person on Earth’ letter. It was fun to write.”
“All of the above were in English that had to be translated into Spanish and be certified as legal translations, and our signatures notarized. It produced a folder about 1.5 inches thick with English on the left side & Spanish on the right.”
“Once they were completed Barbara and I spent about five hours, accompanied by a Mexican attorney, touring Mexican government office locations and being photographed and fingerprinted at least three times at each location, and we remember at least four locations where we were instructed on Mexican tax, labor, housing, and criminal law and that we were required to obey their laws or face the consequences. We could not protest any of the government’s actions or we would be committing a felony. We paid out four thousand dollars in fees and bribes to complete the process. When this was done we could legally bring in our household goods that were held by U.S. Customs in Laredo, Texas. This meant we had rented furniture in Mexico while awaiting our goods. There were extensive fees involved here that the company paid.”
“We could not buy a home and were required to rent at very high rates and under contract and compliance with Mexican law.”
“We were required to get a Mexican driver’s license. This was an amazing process. The company arranged for the licensing agency to come to our headquarters location with their photography and fingerprint equipment and the laminating machine. We showed our U.S. license, were photographed and fingerprinted again and issued the license instantly after paying out a six dollar fee. We did not take a written or driving test and never received instructions on the rules of the road. Our only instruction was to never give a policeman your license if stopped and asked. We were instructed to hold it against the inside window away from his grasp. If he got his hands on it you would have to pay ransom to get it back. ”
“We then had to pay and file Mexican income tax annually using the number of our FM3 as our ID number. The company’s Mexican accountants did this for us and we just signed what they prepared. It was about twenty legal size pages annually.”
“The FM3 was good for three years and renewable for two more after paying more fees.”
“Leaving the country meant turning in the FM3 and certifying we were leaving no debts behind and no outstanding legal affairs (warrants, tickets or liens) before our household goods were released to customs.”
“It was a real adventure and if any of our Senators or Congressmen went through it once they would have a different attitude toward Mexico.”
“The Mexican government uses its vast military and police forces to keep its citizens intimidated and compliant. They never protest at their capitol or government offices, but do protest daily in front of the United States Embassy. The U.S. Embassy looks like a strongly reinforced fortress and during most protests the Mexican military surrounds the block with their men standing shoulder to shoulder in full riot gear to protect the Embassy. These protests are never shown on U.S. or Mexican TV. There is a large public park across the street where they do their protesting. Anything can cause a protest such as proposed law changes in California or Texas.”
Please feel free to share this with everyone who thinks we are being hard on the illegals.=