Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Immigration & American Opinion

Quinnipiac (Conn.) University just released the results of a nationwide poll on American opinions about immigration and immigration reform. The study was conducted in November and questioned 1,623 registered voters. The survey found that most American voters (69% versus 27%) favor a guest worker program for undocumented immigrants and allowing them to eventually work toward citizenship.

At the same time, those polled also want more border enforcement, as well as a means to keep undocumented workers from entering the country in the future, and 65% (versus 32%) also favored laws that would fine citizens for hiring undocumented workers.

This is certainly a positive development, as it will take a guest worker program and serious consequences for citizens who hire undocumented workers to make significant changes in our immigration system. What the survey did not ask, however, is how far Americans are willing to go to end the two-tier labor system that undocumented immigration fuels. A comprehensive and generous guest worker program that would give anyone who wants to look for work in the U.S. a legal right to do so, is probably the only way to truly end undocumented immigration.

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