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Americans Back Path to Citizenship for Immigrants
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in the United States favour legalizing undocumented workers under specific conditions, according to a poll by Opinion Research Corporation released by CNN. 80 per cent of respondents would allow illegal immigrants to stay and apply for citizenship if they had a job and paid back taxes.
An additional 48 per cent of respondents are in favour of creating a temporary worker program that would allow foreigners to enter the U.S. for several months to work, but would not allow them to apply for citizenship. More than half of all respondents oppose building a 700-mile long fence on the border with Mexico.
In March 2006, the Pew Hispanic Center calculated the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. at somewhere between 11.5 million to 12 million.
In May 2006, U.S. president George W. Bush addressed the nation to discuss his immigration proposals. Bush outlined five clear objectives: securing the borders, creating a temporary worker program, holding employers to account for the workers they hire, allowing illegal immigrants "who have roots" in the country to apply for citizenship, and helping newcomers assimilate into American society.
On May 9, Republican Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter said legislators "have come to an agreement on what we have called a grand bargain" on the immigration issue, suggesting that a bill might be approved in the near future. Specter declared: "We're dealing with a temporary worker program until we have solved the problem of securing the border and providing for identification."
Polling Data
Would you favour or oppose each of the following proposals?
Favour | Oppose | No opinion | |
Building a 700-mile long fence on | 45% | 53% | 2% |
Creating a temporary worker program | 48% | 50% | 2% |
Creating a program that would allow | 80% | 19% | 1% |
Source: Opinion Research Corporation / CNN
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,028 American adults, conducted from May 4 to May 6, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.