Poll: Immigration Bill Flopping With Only 22% Support
It isn’t R.I.P. for the stalled immigration reform bill in terms of public support.
Yet.
It’s on life support.
But barely.
That’s the only conclusion that can be drawn from a new Rasmussen Reports poll that suggests the bill has irked conservatives and is also getting two thumbs down (or a middle finger up) from liberals, Republicans, Democrats, independents and moderates.
If this keeps up, it’ll soon match Vice President Dick Cheney’s popularity numbers…
Even worse: the poll finds that all the lobbying by the White House has done very little to budge most Americans who seem to have concluded that the bipartisan deal smells:
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 22% of American voters currently favor the legislation. That’s down a point from 23% a couple of weeks ago and down from 26% when the debate in the Senate began. Fifty percent (50%) oppose the Senate bill while 28% are not sure.
Among the public, there is a bi-partisan lack of enthusiasm for the Senate bill. It is supported by 22% of Republicans, 23% of Democrats, and 22% of those not affiliated with either major party. It is opposed by 52% of Republicans, 50% of Democrats, and 48% of unaffiliateds.
From an ideological perspective, the bill is opposed by 59% of conservatives, 54% of liberals, and 45% of political moderates. Among those for whom none of the traditional ideological labels apply, just 20% are opposed.
Support is found from 20% of conservatives, 32% of liberals, and 18% of moderates.
Just 32% believe it would be better to pass the current bill instead of doing nothing. Forty-five percent (45%) believe it would be better to pass nothing at all.
If the current bill passed, 71% of American voters believe that another bill would be required to focus on securing the border and reducing illegal immigration. That’s up from 65% in our previous survey.
Rasmussen notes that there is a bit of a dichotomy. Polling indicates most Americans WOULD support a bill that has strong border enforcement plus some way to legalize 12 million illegal alliens. At the same time, however, the gap between a hypothetical bill and deciding on a real bill is the problem. Bottom line: most Americans don’t think a legislative solution to legalizing those already here would turn out to be a solution.
PERSONAL NOTE: I covered most stories on Ronald Reagan’s immigration reform/amnesy package as my beat as Staff Writer for my then-employer, The San Diego Union. I personally believe most Americans (on both sides) remain stung by the fact that the highly-touted Reagan plan fell short of initial hopes. Millions were legalized, but the law most certainly didn’t discourage people from illegally crossing the border. Plus, the highly-touted hard-line enforcement of immigration laws that would supposedly clamp down on corporations that knowingly hired and used illegals once the amnesty was in place didn’t materialize (the operative theory has been that migrant-dependent businesses sent a message to Washington, which listened).
So Americans on all sides are more skeptical than ever. It’s an emotional issue but there are several layers of skepticism in many parts of the U.S.A over whether a plan that politicians tout will really work, or whether it’s just another plan that will be put in place so politicos can get votes from targeted constituencies around election time.
So there are twin problems: the bill itself…and efforts by those on both sides to offer arguments that are more than demonizing the other side. Emotion has overpowered debate and made substantive, position-changing debate that much harder.
TWO OTHER NOTABLE POSTS:
–Be sure to read Ron Beasley who wonders where all the moderates are.
–And be sure to read Ed Morrissey who thinks he has an answer to that.
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13 Responses to “Poll: Immigration Bill Flopping With Only 22% Support”
I would be interested to see a poll in which they asked people what was actually in the bill – specifiics, not just talking-point-versions.
I think part of the difficulty though, in getting much public support, stems from the fact that no one is really addressing the situation honestly.
The wave of immigration comes as a direct result of the needs of our economy. No job magnet, much less, if any, immigration. The fact that our economy has such job opportunities is a GOOD THING.
Clearly there is no political will to raise the level of legal unskilled immigration. Everyone wants the engineers or the scientists, nobody is willing to vote to let in more unskilled people. And yet the economy needs millions of low-skilled workers.
So long as no one deals honestly with that , then nothing will change. I give credit to Bush for at least indirectly acknowledging this, with his guest worker program, but he doesnt have the courage to make the case directly and strongly.
Meanwhile the Republican demagouges pretend that somehow we can dispense with 12 million workers without harm to the economy. Or that we can cut off the supply (with enforced borders, and no new provisions for legal unskilled workers) and not stifle economic growth. It is an absolutely lunatic position – one can only presume that they make the argument purely for political rhetorical reasons, and that they know full well (and secretly hope) that immigration will not be slowed.
Unemployment is at near record lows. If there were no new unskilled workers, then who does the low-level jobs in new or expanding businesses?
Until this issue is honestly addressed, there wont be support for doing anything, since everyone will sense that the true situation isnt being addressed.
[...] Clark Link to Article george w bush Poll: Immigration Bill Flopping With Only 22% Support » Posted [...]
Immigration bills have had any support except by the few criminals in the government, business and the illegal invaders themselves.
The real number one enemy of the criminals in the government is themselves and their actions of the past.
Why would anyone even consider negotiating with anyone that never gets around to keeping their word on any of the immigration laws of the past?
What would be the point?
This is like the people that got caught by their own rules while playing games as children. Every time they would get caught in one of their old rules they would start in on a big speech for a new rule. They never would pay up on being caught on the old rule.
No one plays with them long.
Just what are we still doing dealing with these liars?
If that’s all the further you look, it does look pretty bad BUT let’s look a little closer at the 50% who oppose the bill.
The June 22-24, 2007 CNN/Opinion Research Corporation IMMIGRATION Poll numbers are almost identical to the Rasmussen Poll that Joe quotes.
30% Favored an Immigration Bill and 43% were Opposed.
BUT… Of the 43% that Oppose the Bill – 15% are against it because “it does not go far enough toward helping illegal immigrants”!
This means:
An Immigration Bill is needed, wanted and it will pass.
Bigots and fear mongers are just going to have to crawl back into their holes and wait for another issue to show their pettiness and ignorance.
Pew already released a report on this issue.
33% in favor, 41% opposed, 26% no opinion
“Among those with an opinion, opposition to the bill outweighs support, and this is particularly the case among the most attentive Americans. Those who have heard a lot about the bill oppose the legislation by 52%-34%; among those who have not heard as much, about as many favor the bill (32%) as oppose it (34%).
In general, the public is less supportive of providing amnesty for illegal immigrants than it is of providing a way for those immigrants to gain citizenship. Men and conservative Republicans, in particular, take a dim view of giving amnesty to illegal immigrants.”
Of course that is not what is true about nearly all in favor of immigration reform, but you have been wrong several times on several threads lately and this is no surprise here. Ironic, indeed, that you and others wrongfully misstate my postings as “ad hominem” [sic] and make other laughably wrong remarks when you simply don’t like having the truth told. It goes for immigration reform, it goes for selecting Israel for political malfeasance by the UN “Human Rights” personnel, and for other issues I’ve seen lately. You are wrong every time you describe proponents of immigration reform as bigots or other false names. (That’s what is called “mischaracterization,” something you and others have a problem facing when it is you who are guilty of it.)
Have fun on the golf course if you want to run away.
DLS,
Your Pew poll had 41% OPPOSED the the Bill, my CNN poll had 43% that OPPOSED the Bill.
It’s like the ‘Congressional Approval’ polls… some disapprove of congress because they don’t think they’re doing enough and others disapprove because they think they’re doing to much.
You need to look and see WHY43% of those polled are OPPOSED to the Immigration Bill.
15% (of the 43%) thought it DIDN’T DO ENOUGH for immigrants.
28% (of the 43%) thought it DID TO MUCH for immigrants.
It’s still 43% OPPOSED to the but it’s ONLY 28% that don’t want the immigrants to be allowed to stay.
The 2007 Immigration Bill WILL pass and why some of you are so worked up about this that it makes some of us wonder if maybe your wives ran off with the gardener or something.
your #6 – That’s just too funny. I’m going to print that one and take it when I ‘run away’ to the golf course tomorrow… it’ll get a good laugh all around.
FWIW – You should look up the definition of “sic“… it appears that you don’t know what it means.
The Pew report discusses different Americans’ views not only of the bill but of immigration policy in this country. (You didn’t read it, did you?)
That doesn’t speak too highly of your companions.
Here’s YOUR PEW POLL DLS…
You seem to have missed the part that said:
62% of Republicans polled favor “providing a way for illegal immigrants currently in the country to gain legal citizenship”
And the part that said:
“A majority of Americans (54%) say they favor amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the country if they pass background checks and meet other conditions.”
Well! That was my point almost half of the people saying they are OPPOSED to the Immigration Bill are OPPOSED to it because they don’t think IT DOES ENOUGH for the immigrants.
One of us didn’t… Guess you didn’t get the memo!
[...] show the immigration bill has managed to unify the country in the across-the-boards disatisfaction with it. But Bush and those in Congress have now had the last laugh by triumphing in a test vote on [...]
[...] show the immigration bill has managed to unify the country in the across-the-boards disatisfaction with it. But Bush and those in Congress have now had the last laugh by triumphing in a test vote on [...]
Polls, as someone has pointed out, are largely worthless and never should be the basis for governing. One can always get the results he wants by the way the question is posed and by the choices for answers. For example, if I were to ask, “Should an illegal who has displaced and American worker be legalized and allowed to stay?’” I suspect the majority of our people, especially members of unions would say “no”. Similarly, if the choices for answers I gave for a different type of question were: “Deport them all”, “Legalize all and allow them to stay”, “Repatriate humanely any who it can be shown have displaced American workers or depress wages”, “Require employers to prove their need for foreign workers with irrefutable evidence”, “Register all illegal aliens and deport those for whom there is no discernible need”, and similar other choices that would make the poll truly comprehensive, the results might be much more revealing than anything we have seen so far. There could even be an “other” category to allow for ideas no one has thought of.
[...] show the immigration bill has managed to unify the country in the across-the-boards disatisfaction with it. But Bush and those in Congress have now had the last laugh by triumphing in a test vote on [...]