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Jonathan Alcorn / Reuters
People line up for assistance with paperwork for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, August 15, 2012.
WASHINGTON — More than half of U.S. citizens believe that most or all of the country's 11 million illegal immigrants should be deported, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday that highlights the difficulties facing lawmakers trying to reform the U.S. immigration system.
The online survey shows resistance to easing immigration laws despite the biggest push for reform in Congress since 2007.
Thirty percent of those polled think that most illegal immigrants, with some exceptions, should be deported, while 23 percent believe all illegal immigrants should be deported.
Only 5 percent believe all illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the United States legally, and 31 percent want most illegal immigrants to stay.
These results are in line with other polls in recent years, suggesting that people's views on immigration have not changed dramatically since the immigration debate reignited in Congress last month, according to Ipsos pollster Julia Clark.
"It's not Americans' views that are shifting. It is that the political climate is ripe for this discussion," after the November election when Hispanics voted overwhelmingly in favor of Democratic President Barack Obama, she said.
"Democrats feel that the time is right to capitalize on their wins and Republicans feel that they had a bad blow and are eager to reach out to Hispanics," she added.
Polls show that most Americans back immigration reform, although they often have different ideas of what that means, with some people favoring looser immigration laws while others want to see greater border security.
A group of eight U.S. senators are working on a bipartisan deal to enact immigration reform, the first major attempt since a similar overhaul died in Congress six years ago.
The senators' proposal calls for a full path to citizenship for illegal immigrants once they pay back taxes and a fine and wait in line behind others applying to become Americans.
A plan by Obama has similar provisions, but the senators want any move to relax immigration laws dependant on boosting security on the southern border.
Attitudes toward immigration are polarized by party, according to another the Reuters/Ipsos poll. Seventy-five percent of Republicans think all or most immigrants should be deported, compared to 40 percent of Democrats who think the same.
Republican Senator John McCain, one of the eight senators in the group, had his own encounter with citizens angered by illegal immigration on Tuesday when residents of his state of Arizona complained bitterly at a town hall meeting about the lack of security on the border with Mexico.
One man asked why troops had not been deployed to the border.
"Why didn't the army go down there and stop them? Because the only thing that stops them I'm afraid to say, and it's too damn bad, is a gun," the man said.
Another resident, Keith Smith, got into a testy exchange with McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate whose views on immigration have fluctuated over the years.
"Cut off their welfare and all their stuff and they'll go back," Smith said, referring to undocumented workers.
McCain had been trying to explain his position: "You're not telling these people the truth. They mow our lawns, they care for our babies, they clean ... that's what those people do," he said.
The Arizona lawmaker, whose position on immigration hardened during the 2010 midterm elections before softening again, is a key part of the Republican side of the senators' bipartisan immigration effort.
Wednesday's Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted Friday through Tuesday and surveyed 1,443 Americans over the age of 18.
The precision of the Reuters/Ipsos online poll is measured using a credibility interval. In this survey, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor in Phoenix
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yea get rid of em these people are taking those jobs that americans do not want or will not do
Odd that the "progressive" is still using that trite but catchy phrase. Just what jobs might those be? Cutting lawns maybe? .... it was not that long ago you either had trained citizens who knew about plants and specialised in the trade or the local teenagers made pocket money helping the neighbors. Construction maybe? ...... it used to be that trade was filled with skilled trained citizens with pride in their workmanship and that trade was highly desired by those entering the workforce. maybe fast-food trade then?........ seems to me that was another entry level job for young and unskilled citizens, not a life-time career. Agriculture then, thats a favorite of those using that line ...... seems to me it would be more rational to hire the foreign national (if so needed) in place of origin for a set time frame at a mutually agreed wage and then make sure they return to place of origin at the end of the contracted time.
When major companies that are the primary employment for small communities can fire the entire citizen workforce and contract with coyotes to import illegal alien replacements at half the wages, yeah then the illegal alien is "doing jobs that citizens do not/will not do" ... at least at that reduced wage.
Get rid of the free rides and you'll see just who won't take "those jobs"..It's amazing what kind of work you WILL do when you are hungry..Teddy Roosevelt said it best,"To get rid of poverty, you must make it uncomfortable for them." (not exact, I'm sure) you get his gist though.
PHOENIX (8/14/2011) - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies arrested an illegal immigrant working inside the Palo Verde Nuclear Plant, the nation's largest nuclear plant and one of the most closely monitored in the country.
http://www.kvoa.com/news/illegal-immigrant-working-inside-nuke-plant-arrested/
MARICOPA, AZ (09/26/2012) - Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies say they arrested an illegal immigrant Wednesday after learning he attempted to enter the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant by using false identification.
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_central_southern_az/maricopa/illegal-immigrant-nestor-martinez-ochoa-used-fake-id-to-try-to-enter-palo-verde-nuclear-power-plant#ixzz2LRMlT3ot
Why are we supposed to uphold all laws but when it comes to immigration the very law that sucks the souls out of the hard working people here...We decide to not only not enforce them but to reward them more then the citizens??? WHo's damn country is this!!!!????
Whose damn country is? It appears, a country of political leaders, courtesy of illegals.
Dontcha just love it when the illegals come out and protest our government and the will of US citizens..What the fug..Arrest the jokers..on the spot..They have NO rights to petition OUR government..DO THEY. They have NO legitimate grievances.........because they are illegitimately living here. If you can't vote..SHUT UP. Your voice and opinion don't count. Period..
According to the news Democrats won the election because of popular support from Latinos voters. So it's payback time, loosening of immigration laws. Patriotic Americans must unite for the good of the nation. Otherwise US would be flooded with alien that later on would consume much of US diminishing wealth. Spending cut on SECURITY apparatus just to FEED the illegals? Too many mouths to feed, how long the nation can afford it. American economy is in trouble. A family of two is easy to feed, a family of ten is an headache! Wake up America.
Not latinos...Food stamp recipients...Obama won by only 2-3 million votes...HE PUT 17 MILLION ON FOOD STAMPS IN THE LAST 2 YEARS, DIDN'T HE..Now take 2-3 mill from 17 mill and Romney won 15 million more working, tax paying citizens votes..Didn't he. "ONCE THE PUBLIC REALIZES THEY CAN VOTE THEMSELVES MONEY FROM THE PUBLIC TREASURY THE REPUBLIC IS LOST...." BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. HOW TRUE.
There should be exceptions. Law abiding green light but families coming over here and soaking up the wellfare on the tax payers dime is not right. Especially when the system fails to take care of it's own citizens FIRST. When I became disabled due to a spinal cord injury and lost everything when it came time for needing assistance beecause I wasn't illegal or had pigmentation other than white I was denied and starved and was forced to sell my property. while the rest of you free loaders had 10 kids moved next door to me on wellfare when I had to foreclose you got the free ride. F U.
So if a foreign national sneaks across the border, manages to obtain illegal false I.D. to work at a job it is illegal for them to have, is able to be under the radar long enough for an anchor baby to be born, gets foreign born children into the schoold system taking valuable space and resources, maybe the same kids that get involved in the justice system ..... it is ok for them to "immigrate"? The Republic either has a set of rules of how and what foreign nationals is allowed to become citizens or it has open borders and the mass migration of excess 3rd world populations. Throughout recorded history an open border has not at any time worked out well for an established civilization.
MAkes me sick that the system helps everyone but it's own citizens on our freaking dime. DISGUSTED with out governments policies on this.
Whats so hard to understand about the word 'Illegal'? Break the law and get punished and deported, not rewarded. I hope your children enjoy having to learn spanish as a primary language in the next 20 years. Your government has sold out its citizens at every turn, export jobs, import illegals as cheap labor, but you keep on waving those flags.
Hey I am all for an immigration policy. An immigration policy stops mass migration of barbarian hordes in favor of controlling who and what crosses the international border. A rational policy would be designed to fill the needs of the nation, the needs of the prospective immigrant is irrelevant. Right now the only need the Republic has is people to tax, it has lost or destroyed the middle-class tax base in clintons "new economy" where 75% of the tax base only accounts for less than 13% of revenue and 45% of that group 0%. So why not deport all illegal aliens, lock down all borders and only allow the foreign wealthy to "immigrate" until the middle-class is recreated and unemplyment/underemployment is back to a manageable 3% to 4%? Until every citizen who is capable of working has a job there is no need to import excess 3rd world populations.
The "ayes" have it. Make it so.
Have all the unemployed soldiers from iraq and afghan deployed on the mexican border and problem solved. It is so easy so why wont the politicians protect the usa.
Since when do non-citizens of the United States, or any other country for that matter, sneak into a country and then make demands? Since when do non-citizens become recipients of all of the benefits of citizenship without even being legal?
I understand that our country is a country of immigrants and I welcome new arrivals from every country because it brings new life and ambition with it.
The problem is that there is a system by which people enter our country and become workers or citizens. It is a process and a law. It is NOT by stealing a place, sneaking in and making demands and it is NOT by some idiot president deciding to make it ok.
If a president or politicians do not listen to the legal citizens then the people will begin to take the law into their own hands and chaos will result.
First, all undocumented and illegal people shall have all support removed unless they can prove they are here legally. No medical unless they can pay for it, no drivers licences, no money or services of any kind from the government. Then all undocumented and illegal people should be rounded up and deported. They should then be allowed to go through normal channels to apply for work permits or even citizenship as all former immigrants have done.
I would like to hear from one illegal person why this should not be so. Who said you should get a free ride?
I also wish we woulsd secure our borders.I personally can't believe all the hispanics that live in Iowa.All they do is breed.There dream is a takeover of America and turn it into a latin America.You'd be surprised how many mexican flags I see flown over American soil.So insulting.Our flag is a representation of all nationalities.The hispanics from my understanding just don't give a crap about other races.I hear them say racial slurs as well.It seems pretty obvious they hate everyone.I believe its a silent undeclared war upon America.They want our jobs,land,money[you know all the freebies they take advantage of],white women and everyhing and anything that is'nt nailed down.Why do we Americans have to be victims in our nation to appease these evil lawbreakers and politicians?This mass invasion has been going on since 1965.Is this not enough tolerance?I still can't believe how many live in Iowa.Sorry but I don't believe the majority is worth a pile of pig manure.Diid some of you know that the ways the hispanic gangs are started is with the rape of a white woman or girl as a way to make them ellgible to be part of the terroristic activities of these evil gangs.Forget about muslim terroeists,,we've got mexicans.
Reagan gave them all a free pass. If this immigration reform passes, you can expect 20 million in the next 25 years.
Another prime example of the minority rule. This administration of cockroaches, slugs and paramecium-like maggots have hijacked the majority and are actively indoctrinating us into their way of life. Obama cares nothing for what America wants, he cares only about what Obama wants. You see, the Soothsayer Obama knows much better than you do what is good for your country. Your needs and wants are irrelevant, especially in a second term where there is ZERO concern for reelection.
So, sit back America and enjoy the rear entry of the left. Smiling, nodding their heads as they listen to you, then exiting to enact an agenda 100% consistent with their thoughts and not yours. And I bet the 52% of us hellbent upon reelecting this buffoon are questioning their own sanity behind closed doors.
All of us had better pray that when this failed socialist rides off into retirement that there is something to salvage. Right now it's a 50/50 proposition.
Real Obama hater, aren't you Showshanda? The previous administration was made up of cockroaches, slugs and paramecium-like maggots. There fixed your second sentence. As for your first, it wasn't and isn't a prime example of minority rule, Obama was by over 100 electoral college votes, which makes it a very decisive victory. But with your hate filled blinders on, you can't see that.
It was a 50/50 proposition that anything could be saved when Bush left office. Another year or two of him and his failed policies and we wouldn't have to had worried, we would be down and out. But then again, with your hate filled blinders, and low informed base intellegence, you wouldn't know jack for shionla if it bit you on the rear. And all of us can give thanks Bush left when he did.
Ship their ILLEGAL asses out of here now. No respect to our laws and the elected officals kissing there asses for votes.
What part of ILLEGAL don't these Washington squatters understand??? I guess as long as they may get a vote they don't care a snot about what the majority of LEGAL American's think. All bow before the almighty Obama....
Not just Obama but most republicans also see amnesty as the right and practical thing to do.
Mark - why is it RIGHT to give these criminals amnesty? Why should they be rewarded for breaking the law? What laws do I get to break without fear of prosecution?
Would you consider it ethical if a policeman saw you running a red light every day for the last 20 years and did nothing because it was in the township's best interest to do nothing, and then tomorrow gave you a ticket for wach of those last 20 days, adding up to many thousands of dollars in fines?
Particularly when he did that to everyone who drove through that intersection, and all those people decided to fight the ticket and so we have to hire a thousand more judges to adjudicate those fines?
That is effectively what some are proposing. We turned a blind eye to the issue because we needed a lot of cheap labor very quickly. But now, after so many have established their lives and their children's lives in the US we think nothing of turning them out, not even taking into consideration the greatly impractial and costly logistics of doing so.
What the US did over the last 3 decades was hugely wrong but we did it becasue it served our own purposes. What some would have us do now is even worse, and impractical.
get these criminal illegals out of my country
Keep the immigrants
And shoot the idiots/t-bag trash/replicans/Nazi
To make more room
And a more intelligent people
Living in the freedom loving country I grew
Up in
Show them that guns can be used for good
Hint:
Replican/T-BNag Trash
or back in their Districts now
Do your duty
For God and Country
Curious that US citizens turned a blind eye to illegal immigration (chiefly under George Bush) when we needed these people to fill low-paying jobs, implicitly sanctioning and abetting the crime, but now we are "shocked" that these people are here and we've all of a sudden got religion and are now ready to impose the largest forced migration in the history of the world, including children who commited no crime.
US faux morality on full display.
As when
bushie2/chinny DOUBLED the Natonal Debt and more
chinny said deficits speficits which made no sense
and replican/t-bag trash said not a word about deficits from 2000-2008
and ever since they drove the economy off the cliff
in 2008 before the election between Obama & Pain McCain
all any T-Bagger/Replican can talk about is
The Deficit the National Debt
Suddenly they think it is important !!
Obama has proposed only one bill that passed and it does not go into affect until 2014
the CONGRESS passes all bills to do with spending
they do not listen to the economists are the people
we need a jobs bill
stimulus spending on infrastructure
people working will pay taxs and decrease and/or eliminate any deficit spending in the forecast
Replicans/T-Bag Trash want to run this country into the ground
and then blame Obama
The citizens are not as stupid as they think
at least the majority who voted for Obama
are not
Funny, perhaps I'm wrong but I seem to remember the story line on this going the other way before the election.
JUST WHEN has the GOP every wanted to stop the flow of illegals? THEY had complete control of the govt from 2001 thru 2006, and DID THEY FIX IT? NO they didn't, and with having complete control the D's could not have stopped them from FIXING it.
So all the Obama haters spewing the excretment and hate is just part of the GOP low informed base doing what they were told to do. They can't think for themselves. So come on GOP trolls, tell us why GW Bush didn't fix this problem?
Need some help for the excuse? Maybe having two UNPAID wars were more important? Losing billions of dollars that were stacked on pallets more important? Which one will you low informed trolls use?
I'll try The Secure Fence Act of 2006. As you will note this act was signed into law by GWB on On October 26, 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Fence_Act_of_2006
Do we have operational control of the border? Who halted the funding of the project?
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0317/Janet-Napolitano-halts-funding-for-virtual-border-fence
What I think most people miss when they do these polls is that there is almost no such thing as a pure Democrat or Republican. My wife and I are on opposite sides of the political spectrum but neither of us wholly supports the agenda of either party. One issue we are both in agreement on however is that if you enter the country illegally then you have broken the laws of the United States of America regardless of what country you came from. It does not matter if you have lived in the country for 20 years, you are still breaking a very fundamental law each and every day. You are in the country illegally! There is no logical position that can support rewarding people who are defiance of the law on a daily basis.
Immigration problem, illegal alien problem...Simple solution..put armed guards WITH LIVE AMMO on the border..that stops drugs, Asians, Chinese, Iraqi's, al Queda and the invasion by illegals.. Shut down all money wire transfers by Western Union,etc., to Mexico..that stops the Mexican gov from lobbying our officials..Money sent to Mexico is their 3rd biggest import..billions and billions sent that keep them for having to provide services for their own people. Uphold the law that says at least one parent must be a US citizen for any child born here to be a US citizen by birth(chinese birth in US vacations come to mind). Stop all foodstamps and welfare to ANY non citizen parent. Give them one year to self deport of face arrest on the spot. Still allow agriculture workers( we used to call them migrant workers..they came,got paid and WENT HOME) on a temporary visa. See, it's simple...WE JUST CAN'T AFFORD THEM..CAN WE. Taxes going for OUR citizens...or THEM......Your choice. BUT..we know Obama and the Democrats aren't going to do that...they want more welfare, food stamp, voting slaves. That's why we are stuck with him again. 17million food stamp recipients added in the last 2 YEARS. Hadn't been for them, we would have had a captain of industry and a very moral man leading our country instead of a European model socialist..No government EVER made a profit..did it...they only TAKE. See, Obama doesn't care about that, gotta buy more votes.
Just an FYI, more illegals were allowed to enter the country under republican administrations than democrat.
In other words, look in the mirror if you want to see who was mostly at fault.
Wher do you get you facts if you have any, are we just to take your word, ain't happin!!
Can someone post a list of states where undocumented immigrants can get food stamps and welfare benefits that is not available to legal residents and US citizens.
People say here that these undocumented immigrants get all these benefits but the first thing they ask when you apply for these benefits is if you are a citizen or legal resident alien. If you are not, they tell you outright you do not qualify. Show some proof that you can get them if you are undocumented. Don't just repeat what people say without knowing the facts.
The USA under President Reagan granted amnesty in the early 80's, I recall, 1983. About 3 million people took the amnesty to get legal status. Now we have 12 Million, because we did not enforce our immigration laws.
Write to your Senators and Congressman thru their websites, enforce immigration laws. They themselves probably do not realize, we have a working immigration system. They just have to enforce it. Proof: I have seen it myself, our friend married a Filipino wife in the Philippines, she is living here in the USA legally within 6 months. The USCIS is doing it's best to improve the processing time, and it has done so significantly, compared to the years it used to take way back in the 1970's and 1980's.
There is also a special visa category for those investors who can invest $500K up to $1M in the USA and can create jobs. So do not tell me crap about needing to improve the immigration laws to bring in investors. Too many people claiming the immigration system is broken, look up and educate yourself.
Go to the USCIS.GOV website and learn about immigrating to the USA. It is not all that broken, it just needs to be enforced.
Imagine that...A Poll that actually tells the partial truth..On a Media website no less...I bet the Editor will get a good talking to about this from the White House or Corporate Board room.. Smart people realize that for every Law breaker the Obama Administration makes legal, it is just another big finger salute from the Demoncrats who ignore the Law...Maybe that is why there is so much Lawlessness in the Demoncrat Controlled City States about the nation like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Miami etc. etc.. IF their leaders do not obey the law, then why should they? Smart people also realize for each illegal made legal they lose their Voting power and Rights and become more and more disenfranchised by the Demoncrat party who is neutering their wishes and of it's own Party members and even helping to put them out of work....I wondered when the average Lemming, Sheeple, and Kool Ade consumer, would start to realize they were going to get the short end of the stick with Obama's plan...But since they voted for Obama you can tell they do not think that much and rely on the government to tell them when and what to do..They voted themselves right back into Poverty just when they were making headway...I guess that College Professor was correct in his research..their not to smart...
eddie, you should know that more illegals were allowed to enter the country under republican administrations than democrat and that the inflow has dropped significantly under Obama, but your political agenda bias prevents from admitting that inconvenient truth. Much easier to parrot Rush isn't it.
Criminal immigrants don't mow MY lawn; they don't take care of MY babies and they don't clean MY house. They are criminals and should be treated as such.
Before anything happens with immigration, we need to make English the official language of this country.