GOP Voters Support Path to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants
Published July 06, 2009 @ 10:58PM PT
I've written about how some conservative writers don't believe the GOP punditry's embrace of immigration restrictionism is in the party's long-term interest, and about how those fears are now being born out as Latin@ support for the GOP plummets.
But the great mystery in all of this is that GOP voters themselves support common sense solutions for immigration reform. America's Voice publicized a recent poll last week:
A new fact sheet from America's Voice shows that, despite inside-the-Beltway conventional wisdom and the extremist rhetoric of some Republicans in Congress, self-identified Republican voters strongly support comprehensive immigration reform. Polling conducted by Benenson Strategy Group demonstrates that, like all Americans, Republican voters believe immigration reform to be a serious and important problem for Washington to address now, not later. Despite conventional wisdom to the contrary, Republican voters also overwhelmingly support comprehensive immigration reform, reject enforcement-only approaches and believe that comprehensive reform will help the economy.
This point was especially interesting:
When given three choices for how to deal with the 12 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, 62% of Republicans said “They should be required to register, meet certain conditions, and eventually be allowed to apply for citizenship.” Eight percent of Republicans said “They should be legally allowed to stay on a temporary basis but not allowed to become U.S. citizens,” and 28% said “They must leave the country.”
Voter preferences on this issue are clear, and even in the Republican Party, those preferences are to pass common sense immigration reform with a path to citizenship. This outcome doesn't seem to be impacted much by the number of times Sean Hannity repeats the word "amnesty" on Fox News.
Update: Also see Greg Siskind's analysis of these poll results:
This tells me that the vocal critics of reform in the GOP fall in to one of three groups -
1. Those that genuinely oppose immigration reform and simply don't care what their constituents think;
2. Those that understand the numbers but are elevating in importance the vocal minority that spends their days faxing, emailing and calling the Hill.
3. Those that are misreading the sentiment of the bulk of their supporters and falsely assume that the faxers represent the typical voter.
I suspect most of them are in the third category and if they don't wake up soon, they'll find themselves in even worse political shape than they are today.
Share this Post
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
StumbleUpon
Delicious
EmailRelated Posts
-
New American Media: Time for Immigration Reform Is Now
-
Kos Gets Hatemail
-
Obama, Congressional Leaders Discuss Immigration Reform
Comments (16)
Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.
Author
-
David is an attorney in Philadelphia, PA, where he helps immigrants to the U.S. navigate the complex immigration legal system. Views he expresses at change.org are his alone and don't represent the views or opinions of his employer, Nationalities Service Center. The information contained on this site is intended for educational and advocacy purposes only.
Who We Are
The Firm
The Benenson Strategy Group is a nationally recognized strategic research and consulting firm with a reputation for being energetic, fast-paced, and analytically aggressive, priding ourselves on developing strategies and tactics for clients and campaigns that achieve one objective: winning.
Founded in 2001, The Benenson Strategy Group’s clients include Premiers, President Barack Obama, Governors, U.S. Senators, Congressmen, international labor unions, Fortune 100 companies and major non-profits. We bring to all of our work a unique combination of cutting-edge analysis and unmatched expertise in communications and messaging that enable BSG to provide our clients with clear, compelling and sustainable winning strategies for persuading consumers and voters.
The Benenson Strategy Group is a consulting firm, not a polling factory. For each new challenge, we develop creative and customized approaches to assess underlying attitudes and beliefs.
Your challenge or campaign is unique. And BSG always treats it that way. Our goal is to be an ongoing member of your strategic team and our mission is to help you test and develop the right strategies and tactics to ensure that you prevail.
The Benenson Strategy Group has helped clients win elections, launch new products, reposition their brand, beat back competitive challenges and overcome public affairs crises. We have worked on five continents and in more than two dozen countries.
NYC Office 212.702.8777
DC Office 202.339.6060
Denver Office 303.928.8400
Not that they are very credible or anything, especially being a Democrat machine. But as they state above, they are a Consulting firm, not a polling factory. There "stratagy" is to win for their "clients".
Could you have used any other phony, biased, hack site?
Posted by Liquids Reign on 07/06/2009 @ 11:56PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Could you have used any other phony, biased, hack site?
I could have used the astroturf group Progressives for Immigration Reform, which commissioned the poll that got the results that you liked better.
http://immigration.change.org/blog/view/nonwhite_support_for_gop_dropping_like_a_stone
But even in that poll, a majority (53%) supported "a pathway to citizenship or amnesty for illegal immigrants currently in the workforce." Let us know when you find a poll that supports your goals ... so far we're still waiting.
Polling companies don't conduct polls for free. They do them for paying clients, including politicians and advocacy groups. As far as BSG not being a polling company, I would be a little more judicious when reading the firm's own PR than you have been. Or exercise better reading comprehension. They do polls for pay like other polling companies. If it walks like a duck ...
Posted by Dave Bennion on 07/07/2009 @ 05:10AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
The PIR report showed the simple point that I made, that although the Majority want CIR with a path to "legalization", the majority also showed they do not want CIR with a path to "citizenship".
Only the PEW poll and this "strategic" group are stating a path to "citizenship", which is undeniably false and inaccurate. Everybody would like to see CIR reform the system and make it better, the question lies in the types of reform put out, how they are implemented and how/if they are going to be funded. I'll use the H-2A visa as an example. Farmers have strict guidelines in using the H-2A, yet the Federal government never followed through with any inspections to verify they were following the use, its funding was never increased and eventually the Government just quit it all together, thus the farmers did also. So I ask again, how id the system "broken" if it was never meant to be followed through with? both parties are just as much to blame.
As far as reading BSG's PR, it's funny on the page of Who We Are, they state as I did above, yet on the Methodology and Products page, they state the following: Internet Polling: BSG has been a leader in internet quantitatitve research, giving us the opportunity to conduct polling as methodologically rigorous and accurate as any telephone poll, more quickly and economically. We’ve developed proprietary techniques that correct for the demographic imbalances of the online population, ensuring that our samples accurately reflect your target subjects and our findings offer you the roadmap you need for your competitive environment.
OK Dave, show how this particular "poll" helps your argument. Explain why it is "credible". Show how they got their results. And if as you state they were paid and are biased, explain how this is not simply a strategy to push for CIR with "citizenship".
If this "poll" would have used the word "legalization" vs "citizenship" it may have had better acceptance.
Posted by Liquids Reign on 07/07/2009 @ 08:15AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
The PIR report showed the simple point that I made, that although the Majority want CIR with a path to "legalization", the majority also showed they do not want CIR with a path to "citizenship".
No, the PIR poll showed that a majority wanted "a pathway to citizenship or amnesty for illegal immigrants currently in the workforce." Here is the language of the relevant question:
7* Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose a pathway to citizenship or amnesty for illegal immigrants currently in the workforce?
28% Strongly support
25% Somewhat support
18% Somewhat oppose
27% Strongly oppose
2% Not sure
I think the poll authors were trying to stack the question as far in their favor as possible by referencing both "path to citizenship" and the dread "amnesty," but the results didn't come out the way they hoped.
Posted by Dave Bennion on 07/12/2009 @ 08:33PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Liberals tend to think the Republican voters are unhappy because the party has not acted like Democrats enough. We are far more dissapointed because They have been acting like Democrats. Every single federal handout program has been expanded in the last eight years, new programs have been created, money was wasted, borders were unsecure. It is true that the Democrats are making it far worse now, but the Republicans will only recover if They get back to Their libertarian philosophy. Republican voters are indeed not anti immigrant, but We want people to come here legally and actually become part of this great family USA.
Posted by Charlie Reed on 07/07/2009 @ 04:54AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
As a conservative, I am not anti immigrant. I am anti ILLEGAL immigrant. How nice of you to sugarcoat it by calling them 'undocumented workers'. They are criminals the minute they set foot on our soil, and are insulting the millions who have paid their dues, waited their turn, and successfully become part of our melting pot. I want to remain a melting pot where legal immigrants can come and pursue the American Dream (unless Obama kills it first!) and they can embrace our culture and enhance our lives by sharing theirs. Yes, I want a melting pot, not a stew with a bunch of hyphenated names. You come here to become an American, plain and simple.
Posted by n j on 07/07/2009 @ 10:23AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Dude! You are in your own little corner in your own little chair with your way of thinking.
The vast majority of Americans are not on the same page with you and that include Republicans, Democrats and Independents.
63% of Americans wants Comprehensive Immigration Reform; not only is it "just right"; it makes "perfect sense" as a solution to the problem.
Posted by Mary Pranzatelli on 07/07/2009 @ 07:51PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Oh and by the way I noticed you waving the flag that represents that 63% of Americans that support Immigration Reform and it also represents the people who voted overwhelmingly for CHANGE. I happen to feel proud of that flag for those very reasons.
Posted by Mary Pranzatelli on 07/07/2009 @ 07:56PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
That flag stands for freedom and law. You people on here are just nuts.
Posted by n j on 07/07/2009 @ 08:03PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
The flag represents the freedom and the people who live in the country of the flag. The flag is about people!!!! Laws CHANGE!!
Actually, You are a "wingnut."
Posted by Mary Pranzatelli on 07/07/2009 @ 08:09PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
"They should be required to register, meet certain conditions, and eventually be allowed to apply for citizenship."
Seems to me, the devil's in the details. What are the conditions? How many of the 12 million will meet the conditions? Many have criminal records. Many have not attained a sufficient proficancy in English. Pay back taxes? What's that all about - everybody pays taxes -citizen and alien alike - so being in a state of owing taxes - should be cause for exclusion. Pay a fine - $5,000; $10,000; 6 months in prison; $100,000; 10 years in prison??
Seems to me that after the dust settles only about 1 million will be eligible, and the rest will be sent home. I can agree with that. Put me down as a 'yes' in your poll.
Posted by Wire Paladin on 07/07/2009 @ 03:25PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
(Many have criminal records. Many have not attained a sufficient proficancy in English)
The Vast majority of the Undocumented do not have criminal records and alot of them speak English too. Many also pay taxes and receive nothing in return.
When you live in a country for a long time you learn the language to function and get ahead in society.
Like always Wire, your talking points are all about "stereotypes."
Seems to me when the dust settles most of the Undocumented will be able to move forward and make investments and open businesses in our country which is great for the economy.
Posted by Mary Pranzatelli on 07/07/2009 @ 08:05PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I fail to see that illegal immigrants pay taxes and receive nothing in return. Most don't have healthcare insurance but receive the services anyway. Their children are entitled to an education here. Most are on the low wage scale and have enough dependants to pay virtually no income taxes accept for SS and that is only if they are on someone's payroll and not getting paid under the table. I think having to pay into the SS fund is a small price to pay for all the other benefits that they and their children receive.
Posted by Mark Lindley on 07/09/2009 @ 09:46AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Immigrants reside in and maintain the flood section in my neighboring town. Without these immigrants to support the local businesses and rent on the mainstreet the town would become a ghost town. If these areas were to become vacant; these beautiful Historical sites would become deserted and the other homeowners of this town would have there taxes go up so high that they would probably go into foreclosure's and businesses would go bankrupted.
*In our nation there have been towns that Immigrants were forced out of that had become deserted. Businesses folded and these towns have become ghost towns.
Posted by Mary Pranzatelli on 07/09/2009 @ 09:49PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
"This outcome doesn't seem to be impacted much by the number of times Sean Hannity repeats the word "amnesty" on Fox News."
Regardless of the bias of the author, if a criminal is given a 'free-pass' by the government and does not have to face the charges of the crime they committed, this is AMNESTY
am·nesty (am′nəs tē) : a deliberate overlooking, as of an offense
Furthermore, I find other points of the aforementioned poll even more interesting.
"When given the details behind reform, and asked whether they support Congress passing a law that would: "Secure the border, crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, and require illegal immigrants to register for legal immigration status, pay back taxes, and learn English in order to be eligible for U.S. citizenship," 89% of Republicans said yes and 11% said no."
As a republican voter myself, I too overwhelmingly support COMPREHENSIVE immigration reform. Many, many laws need to be changed. Being a US citizen just because you are born here would be one of the first. This crazy crap about not deporting a criminal because his/her child is a citizen is just utterly ridiculous. There is absolutely no reason that a deported criminal should not be forced to take their minor child back with them! Properly securing the border would be next. There's no point bailing water out of the boat until you plug the gaping hole in the bottom!
Posted by r conerly on 07/10/2009 @ 12:24PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I support an amnesty, and here is how I would like to see it implemented, in a manner much like a 'tax amnesty'. Set a certain period of time - say 6 months. During that 6 month window, any alien illegal in the US will be allowed to leave voluntarily without penalty. After the 6 month period is over, begin the deportation and removal procedures by the military if necessary
We are an 'occupied' nation with a foreign army on our soil. There is no excuse for this, and we must take back sovereign control of our nation.
Posted by Kurt Thialfad on 07/14/2009 @ 04:22PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.