Political Hotsheet
By

Brian Montopoli /

CBS News/ May 3, 2010, 6:30 PM

Poll: Majority Backs Arizona Immigration Bill

CBS
CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

Despite their expectation that it will burden police departments and disproportionately affect certain ethnic groups, a slim majority of Americans believe the controversial illegal immigration measure recently signed into law in Arizona is "about right" in its approach, according to a newly-released CBS News/New York Times poll.

Fifty-one percent of those surveyed say the law, which critics say essentially mandates racial profiling, takes the right approach, and nine percent say it should go even further.

Thirty-six percent say the law goes too far.

Two in three Republicans say the law takes the right approach, along with roughly half of independents. Among Democrats, support for the law stands at 38 percent. Americans living in the South and Midwest are more likely than those in the East or West to support the measure.

One in two Americans say it is "very likely" that the law "will lead to police officers detaining people of certain racial or ethnic groups more frequently than other racial or ethnic groups." Another 32 percent say that prospect is "somewhat likely." Just 15 percent do not expect some racial or ethnic groups to be affected more than others.

Most also expect the measure to burden police departments: Seventy-eight percent say it is likely the law will place a burden on police resources, including 34 percent who find that prospect "very likely."

Eighty percent say the law will make (legal and illegal) immigrants there less likely to report crime, including 55 percent who say it is "very likely" there will be lower rates of crime reporting by immigrants.

Roughly 70 percent say it is at least somewhat likely that the measure will both reduce the number of illegal residents and new illegal immigration into the country, including 29 percent who say it is "very likely" that will happen. A slim majority say it is at least somewhat likely the measure will reduce crime.

The poll of 1079 adults nationwide was taken between April 28th and May 2nd.

Read the Complete Poll

The Challenge of Immigration:

Sixty-five percent of Americans say illegal immigration is a "very serious problem," up five points from two years ago. Just one in ten says it is not a problem.

In addition, more than three in four (78 percent) say the United States should be doing more to stop illegal immigration. A mere 17 percent say the country is doing all it can.

Most Americans say laws on illegal immigration should be set by the federal government. Fifty-seven percent want the federal government to dictate immigration law, while 34 percent say it should be left to the states.

CBS
Opposition to illegal immigration appears to be grounded at least to some extent in concerns about the economy: Nearly three in four Americans (74 percent) say illegal immigrants who use government services but don't pay taxes weaken the economy. Just 17 percent say illegal immigrants strengthen the economy by taking on low-wage jobs.

Most Americans do not want to deport working illegal immigrants, however. Just 32 percent say they should be required to leave the United States.

Forty-three percent say they should be allowed to keep working and be offered a path to citizenship, while 21 percent say they should be allowed to stay in the country as guest workers.


This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1079 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone April 28-May 2, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
268 Comments Add a Comment
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emenot says:
Those that continue to say illegals are less likely to report crime to the police...

DO YOU SERIOUSLY THINK ILLEGALS WILL ACTUALLY CALL THE POLICE?!? iDIOTS
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latinsa06 says:
I'm Latino, Democrat, Gay, and I support this Arizona law!

The fact is, illegal aliens have ?more? rights than gay people. Illegal aliens can see their opposite sex partners in hospitals, and up until over a month ago when Obama signed an executive order allowing same-sex couples to see one another in hospitals, same sex couples would have been continually barred from seeing one another. Illegal aliens can marry an American citizen, gay people cannot marry in most states in the US. Illegal aliens can march on Washington and request some type of amnesty from a president who supports selective amnesty, gay people can march on Washington, but Obama doesn't support same sex marriage.

Adult Illegal aliens broke the law entering our country and are using their "anchor babies" (born here in the USA) to anchor onto benefits that taxpayers pay for which include: public housing, free rent, food stamps, and free healthcare. When adult illegal aliens or their children go to the emergency room, it's mandated by law that they be treated. Guess who pays for the bill? YOU! You pay for it in the form of HIGHER healthcare costs and rising premiums! And for the "anchor babies" you also pay for their state-funded Medicaid and the cost to educate them and others in the public school system throughout the country!

There's really nothing to stop them from having more kids in order to convince a judge to let them stay in the US. On the other hand, many states don't allow gay Americans to adopt children.

Illegal aliens should all be deported now. We need to end birthright citizenship for anchor babies, and deny illegals access to basic social services. Americans are ultimately left to pick up the bill for the billions in services they receive for free all the while paying nothing into the system and then sending all their earned money back to Mexico to help our their country, not ours.

Citizens paying taxes into the system, regardless of sexual orientation, should come FIRST before illegal aliens who are leaving struggling Americans in a tough recession to foot the entire bill. Illegal aliens are also blatantly disregarding our citizenship laws, that is, the LEGAL and the RIGHT way to enter our country and are abusing the system to their advantage. This needs to stop NOW!
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johny2041 replies:
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I'm white, Republican and straight and I say you should be ashamed of yourself. You are very selfish person not seeing further from your nose. I just hope for the sake of humanity that people sharing your opinion are the real minority.
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latinsa06 says:
I'm Latino, Democrat, Gay, and I support this Arizona law!

The fact is, illegal aliens have ?more? rights than gay people. Illegal aliens can see their opposite sex partners in hospitals, and up until over a month ago when Obama signed an executive order allowing same-sex couples to see one another in hospitals, same sex couples would have been continually barred from seeing one another. Illegal aliens can marry an American citizen, gay people cannot marry in most states in the US. Illegal aliens can march on Washington and request some type of amnesty from a president who supports selective amnesty, gay people can march on Washington, but Obama doesn't support same sex marriage.

Adult Illegal aliens broke the law entering our country and are using their "anchor babies" (born here in the USA) to anchor onto benefits that taxpayers pay for which include: public housing, free rent, food stamps, and free healthcare. When adult illegal aliens or their children go to the emergency room, it's mandated by law that they be treated. Guess who pays for the bill? YOU! You pay for it in the form of HIGHER healthcare costs and rising premiums! And for the "anchor babies" you also pay for their state-funded Medicaid and the cost to educate them and others in the public school system throughout the country!

There's really nothing to stop them from having more kids in order to convince a judge to let them stay in the US. On the other hand, many states don't allow gay Americans to adopt children.

Illegal aliens should all be deported now. We need to end birthright citizenship for anchor babies, and deny illegals access to basic social services. Americans are ultimately left to pick up the bill for the billions in services they receive for free all the while paying nothing into the system and then sending all their earned money back to Mexico to help our their country, not ours.

Citizens paying taxes into the system, regardless of sexual orientation, should come FIRST before illegal aliens who are leaving struggling Americans in a tough recession to foot the entire bill. Illegal aliens are also blatantly disregarding our citizenship laws, that is, the LEGAL and the RIGHT way to enter our country and are abusing the system to their advantage. This needs to stop NOW!
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legalamericancitizen says:
MOVING TO MEXICO

Dear President Obama:

I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my health, and I would like to ask you to assist me.

We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico , and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements.

We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws.

I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I'm on my way over?

Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. Please print all Mexican Government forms in English.

4. I want my grand-kids to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bi-lingual) teachers.

5. Tell their schools they need to include classes on American culture and history.

6. I want my grand-kids to see the American flag on one of the flag poles at their school.

7. Please plan to feed my grand-kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.

9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico , but I don't plan to purchase car insurance, and I probably won't make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol car has at least one English-speaking officer.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my housetop, put U S. flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.

12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.

13. Please have the president tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say critical things about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.

14. I want to receive free food stamps.

15. Naturally, I'll expect free rent subsidies.

16. I'll need income tax credits so that although I don't pay Mexican taxes, I'll receive money from the government.

17. Please arrange it so that the Mexican Government pays $4,500.00 to help me buy a new car.

18. Oh yes, I almost forgot, please enroll me free into the Mexican Social Security program so that I'll get a monthly income in retirement.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all his people who walk over to the U.S. from Mexico . I am sure that President Calderon won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

Thank you so much for your kind help.

You're the man!!!
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johny2041 replies:
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Sure. No problem. You will just have to abide by their rules:
1) You will have to work on their farms or cut their grass.
2) Your wife will have to clean their houses.
3) You will be paid very little money so you will have to share the home with few other families.
4) You might me a subject of ridicule when you walk among the darker skin folks.
5) Before your skin turns dark from the sun exposure you will be frequently stopped by their police and checked for the papers. (Don't let this discourage you and make you feel a lesser man. And forgive them. They are country in transition and are yet to fully understand what our founding fathers understood when they were building our country)

I hope the requests will not cool you down of your desire to go to live among our neighbors. And I am sure it will make you appreciate the differences among the people even more.

Good luck!
dpm924 replies:
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Why would you have to cut grass or clean someone's house or getting paid "very little money" or live 20 families per household? Illegals are NOT SLAVES...they are just...NOT THAT SMART!
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goamerica1 says:
This was interesting reading....... and pretty disturbing...



Bank of America, can I help you?



Customer: Yes, I want to cancel my account. I don't want to do business
with
you any longer.

The Bank: Why?

Customer: You're giving credit to illegal immigrants and I don't think
it's
right. I'm taking my business elsewhere.

The Bank: Well, Mr. Customer, we don't want to see you do that, but we
can't
stop you. I'll help you close the account. What is your account number?

Customer: (gives account number)

The Bank: For security purposes and for your protection, can you please
give
me the last four digits of your social security number?

Customer: No?

The Bank: Mr. Customer, I need to verify your information, but in order
to help
you, I'll need verification of who you are..

Customer: Why should I give you my social security number? The reason
I'm closing
my account is that your bank is issuing credit cards to illegal
immigrants who
don't have social security numbers. You are targeting that audience and
want
their business. Let's say I'm an illegal immigrant and you've given me a
credit
card. I have a question about it and call for assistance. You wouldn't
be asking
me for a Social Security number, would you?

The Bank: No sir, I wouldn't.

Customer: Why not?

The Bank: Because you would have pressed '2' to speak in Spanish. We
don't ask
for that information when calling in on the Spanish line.
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Fatesrider says:
Just goes to show you that the majority are simple-minded idiots.
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marcm1 replies:
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This isn't about immigration reform. To people like you immigration reform is just another way of saying amnesty. Any immigration proposals that move through either Washington DC or the states that does not include amnesty for criminal aliens is not immigration reform to these folks at all, and will not satisfy the invaders. It's as if they're saying:

"Ok, we're here. We broke the law coming here. We broke the law staying here, and we're breaking the law working here ... and frankly, amigos, we don't give a damn whether you like it or not. The problem is yours, not ours. We're here, we're not going anywhere, and there isn't really anything you can do about it. If you arrest us --- if you so much as look at us cross-eyed --- we're going to start screaming racial profiling and human rights abuses so fast and so loudly that there won't be a news agency in the world that will not come running to demonize your country. "
Whenever you hear a Democrat, an illegal alien, an advocacy group for illegal aliens, or any member of the ObamaMedia use the words "comprehensive immigration reform," they're just using a bit more air and some extra words to say "amnesty for illegals
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goamerica1 says:
Outrageous! California students sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo. THIS ALONE IS OURAGEOUS !!!! MAYBE CALIFORNIA IS THE STATE TO BOYCOTT. ARE YOU AMERICANS IN CALIFORNIA ALLOWING THIS !!!!!! ???????
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legalamericancitizen replies:
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ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Nor do I condone the morons flying their Mexican flags in America!!! Now all the illegals in Arizona will come here...as if we don't have enough of them already...lucky us. They have their nerve saying that they do the jobs that we "LEGAL AMERICANS" won't do, what a bunch of crap...just another excuse for them to sneak over here and ruin our country even more. My grandparents came over to America (legally) from Italy & learned how to speak, read & write in English and they "NEVER" asked for a handout like all the illegal aliens do today. As for doing jobs that we won't do, how can we do the job if it is stolen away by them??? If they think those jobs that they steal from legal American's are bad, try doing what my grandfather did...he was a coal miner and he died from black lung disease. I for one am sick to death having to cater to these worthless morons every time they whine & protest in our country and most of them are the illegal aliens protesting. Since when do they have a right to protest??? They have no rights here! Don't come to California, go back to your own country & leave America alone.
goamerica1 replies:
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Well said ! Perhaps we should all start wearing t-shirts with the American flag on it. Pennsylvania may be the next to adapt the law that Arizona has in place....GO PENNSYLVANIA !!!! Hope more states jump on the bandwagon. Keep them running !!!!
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VOLKANDAN says:
IT IS SHAME THAT SOME OF THE STATES, GOVERNERS,POLITATIONS,NEWS MEDIA, SO ON, THEY DO NOT BACK UP ARIZONA. THESE PEOPLE THEY SUPOILED TO MUCH,TO MUCH FREEDOM. THESE PEOPLE THEY SHOULD GET PUNISHED. OR SEND THESE PEOPLE TO SOME OTHER COUNTRY SEE WAHT THEY CAN DO THERE ?
WOMEN,SHE IS IN AMERICA 15 YEARS, 10 KIDS GETS ALL THE BENEFITS,HELP ETC.ETC. AND NOT SPEAK ENGLISH ????? STILL ILLIGAL, HELLOOOOOO AMERICA ...

(google this name) ALAN KEYES. THIS MAN WARNED AMERICA THAT OBAMA WILL BRING AMERICA DOWN TO HELL,BIG HELL. YOU STILL VOTE FOR HIM. NOW COMES TO BIG END TO AMERICA WITH OBAMA.
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jorgipogi says:
It doesn't surprise me at all. If we can go back 60 years ago or so, the majority of German people allowed Jewish people to be starved to death and sometimes or most times allowed them to be burn alive. The power of deceptive propaganda does wonders.
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tenthduf replies:
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dont compare apples to oranges. we're only restricting access through our borders. undocumented persons create a black market economy, encourage human trafficing, child prostituion (on rise in USA in Latin and Chinese communities) gangs (ms13) and crime. Undocumented folks drain resources created and paid for by citizens. I am happy this law is in AZ. In Manassas, VA a whole community of Latin americans converted a nice community to a giant bordello. It about time.
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Pedroalic76 says:
1079 people do not constitute a national poll. That is assuming that 22 people on average in each state was asked. That's not even a decent poll!!!!

Second, so many people don't understand that this does nothing to protect the US citizens and legal immigrants that are here legally but are different in nature. The bill specifically says that a law enforcement officer may detain someone who does not have sufficient paperwork to prove to the law enforcement officer that he/she is not an illegal alien(Line 20 thru 26 of the bill) If a person was robbed, how will they have paperwork to prove this? They cannot go back home and get the paperwork because they were carrying the paperwork to prove that they were citizens to begin with!!! In addition, Line 20 indicates that it is any lawful contact which includes reporting a crime!!! And sorry people, personal experience with ICE has shown me that a Driver's License does not count as proof of citizenship. The terrorists that flew into the towers all had driver's licenses and they were granted student visas after their death (WAY TO GO ICE!!!)

I propose a National ID with Biometrics that each citizen and permanent resident must carry at all times. If it is lost/stolen, it must be reported immediately where a new temporary one will be issued from the local police station and a permanent one will follow in the mail 2 weeks later. The ID Card will carry everything about you dating back to when you were born and all law enforcement will have access to these records. A simple swipe at the database will provide all the information a correctional officer will need.

My second proposition is that everyone must serve in the US military. Too many pansies are crying about rights and freedoms (Including the ones that are in support of this bill because you complain about being jobless but don't want to be a janitor/dishwasher to feed your 13 kids that you had with your sister, you know who you are) for a minimum of 5 years. The military will give you the skills you need to succeed in life and maybe we will have some people around here who actually don't want to hide behind internet anonymity.

Finally, in order to post on any forums, you must initially pass a grammar and spelling test because some of you are lacking in the educational department. You blame the economy and illegals on your lack of jobs but guess what? Maybe if you knew how to spell and put sentence structure together, you could rise above menial tasks like mowing lawns and not have to compete with immigrants.

There is my argument against this poll, my distaste for this bill, my counterargument as to what can be done and finally my rant about the lack of literary skills that 96% of you seem to exhibit. Thank you for your time and if you wish, please answer on washingtondc.craigslist.org and put ESL Boy in your subject. Yes, english is my second language and I speak and write it better than you.
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tenthduf replies:
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I am happy to carry my Passport everywhere I go. In fact, I carry the drivers license all the time. I see no effect on law abiding citizens.
Better yet, lets enforce checking for passports at every tollbooth and at every train and bus station. Lets check for parents residency before registering children for school. I would even support an amendment to the constitution prohibiting citizenship to children born here from illegal immigrants! Yeah - our Euro-ancestors treatied, bought, and stole this land from the natives - NOT me. Now that I am here, I dont want to see a good thing spoiled by law breakers. Let them struggle to fix the problems in their country of origin instead of breaking breaking MY country.
legalamericancitizen replies:
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Oh please! This is not about spelling, it's about the illegal aliens sneaking over here and ruining our country! The statements you made, only serve to make you look ignorant. Get off your soapbox & quit patting yourself on the back.
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