With Congress failing to agree on broad immigration reforms, President Ebola has threatened he could act alone in the next few weeks to delay deportations and give work permits to up to 5 million illegals, according to media reports.
While Hispanics and liberals would welcome that, a new Reuters/Ipsos online poll in mid-July finds a majority of Americans to be opposed.
Here are some of the poll results:
- 70% or 7 of every 10 Americans believe illegal immigrants constitute a threat to America’s economy and culture of beliefs and customs.
- Bipartisan: Those 70% of Americans who oppose illegal immigration include 86% of Republicans, which means they also include a sizeable percentage of Democrats as well (although the Reuters article refuse to give the percentage). As an example, Tom Vanderbur, 72, a registered Democrat in Colorado, criticized Congress for going into summer recess after failing to pass border security measures but also thought Obama does not have “a right to make those kinds of decisions on his own.”
- Opposition even to LEGAL immigration:
- 45% said the number of immigrants legally allowed to enter the U.S. should be reduced. Only 17% favor more legal immigrants, while 38% said the number should stay the same.
- Although the POS and groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce say legal immigration benefits business, 63% of people in the online survey said immigrants place a burden on the economy.
- Obama acting unilaterally on immigration (via executive order) could energize Republicans and make them more likely to go out and vote in the mid-term elections this November. While Latino voters are alienated by Republicans’ refusal to approve immigration reform, Latino voters do not traditionally vote in large numbers in congressional elections, blunting the Democrats’ advantage with that group in November.
- Voters see immigration as the third most important problem facing America. A separate Gallup poll in July found respondents citing immigration as the No.1 problem, ahead of the economy.
- Oddly, although New England is thousands of miles from the Mexico border, opposition to illegal immigration is higher in New England than in much of the rest of the country. 76% of people in New England said illegals threaten American beliefs and customs, compared to 70% nationally.
Source: Reuters
~Eowyn
