Rasmussen Poll on Immigration
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/just_22_favor_stalled_immigration_bill
As the Senate prepares to resume debate the “comprehensive” immigration reform bill, the legislation continues to face broad public opposition. In fact, despite a massive White House effort, public opinion has barely moved since the public uproar stalled the bill just over two weeks ago.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 22% of American voters currently favor the legislation. That’s down a point from 23% a couple of weeks ago and down from 26% when the debate in the Senate began. Fifty percent (50%) oppose the Senate bill while 28% are not sure.
Among the public, there is a bi-partisan lack of enthusiasm for the Senate bill. It is supported by 22% of Republicans, 23% of Democrats, and 22% of those not affiliated with either major party. It is opposed by 52% of Republicans, 50% of Democrats, and 48% of unaffiliateds.
From an ideological perspective, the bill is opposed by 59% of conservatives, 54% of liberals, and 45% of political moderates. Among those for whom none of the traditional ideological labels apply, just 20% are opposed.
Support is found from 20% of conservatives, 32% of liberals, and 18% of moderates.
Just 32% believe it would be better to pass the current bill instead of doing nothing. Forty-five percent (45%) believe it would be better to pass nothing at all.
If the current bill passed, 71% of American voters believe that another bill would be required to focus on securing the border and reducing illegal immigration. That’s up from 65% in our previous survey.
Rasmussen Reports and other firms have consistently found majority support for a hypothetical bill combining border security and legalized status for the 12 million or so illegal aliens already in the country. However, the data has also shown a huge gap between support for the actual legislation and a hypothetical bill. The reason for the gap is simple—reducing illegal immigration is the first priority for voters but only 16% believe the Senate bill would reduce illegal immigration. In fact, 41% believe the Senate bill would make things worse and lead to even more illegal immigration.
Rasmussen Reports was the first polling firm to document the broad public opposition to the Senate bill. Since then, the findings have been confirmed by and NBC/Wall Street Journal survey and by the Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan. Even polls touted by supporters of the legislation showed a strong desire for more serious enforcement measures. A CBS News/New York Times survey, found that 69% of Americans want illegal aliens prosecuted and deported.
Just 15% of voters say that President Bush is doing a good or an excellent job on the immigration issue. That’s even lower than his ratings on Iraq. Senator John McCain, a man visibly and vocally identified with the Senate bill, has seen his poll numbers collapse across the board. The man once considered the dominant frontrunner for the GOP nomination is now a distant third in the polls and struggling to stay in double digits. Over the past month, McCain has lost a net ten points to Hillary Clinton in general election match-ups and just 16% of all voters say they would definitely vote for McCain if he is on the 2008 ballot.
Earlier surveys have shown that 72% of voters consider increasing border security and reducing illegal immigration to be Very Important. Just 29% say the same about legalizing the status of illegal aliens.
