Poll: Immigration Reform Receives Wide Support

The latest New York Times/CBS News poll conducted from May 18 to 23 found broad support among Americans for the new immigration bill, no matter what their political party alliance is.

As reflected by the poll, a large majority of Americans support changing the current immigration system and allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status. They also support a guest worker program that brings more labor sources to the US in areas that are in demand. 51% Americans said the new immigration system should give priority to work skills and education levels over family connections to the United States. This is especially noteworthy as the latter has been the foundation of the immigration system for the past four decades. This could be helpful in preventing chain-immigration and facilitating more merit-based immigration.

More than 60% of those surveyed said the new system should allow illegal immigrants to obtain legal status if they show a solid employment history and no criminal record, and pay at least $5,000 in fines and fees. In addition, the poll showed that differences are not as big as claimed by some Republican legislators between Republicans and Democrats on this issue.

Most of those polled said that illegal immigrants should eventually be allowed to apply for green card and citizenship, but 59% agreed that priority should be given to legal immigrants who have followed the rules. In other words, backlogs should be removed before illegal immigrants can be legalized. Furthermore, two-thirds of Americans polled favored a guest-worker program that brings necessary labor to US employers. 

Here are some questions and results in the poll:

Would you favor or oppose a guest worker program?
Oppose: 30%
Favor: 66%

How should priority be given when admitting immigrants?
Education, job skills and work experience: 51%
Family in the US: 34%

Should illegal immigrants get a renewable visa if they pay a fine, have a clean record and pass a background check?
Yes: 67%
No: 27%.

What should happen to illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. for at least two years?
Should be deported: 33%
Should be allowed to apply for legal status: 62%

Data Source: Julian Preston and Marjorie Connelly, “Immigration Bill Provisions Gain Wide Support in Poll.” New York Times 25 May 2007. 26 May 2007
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/us/25poll.html?ref=politics>

Note:

In the past several years, the immigration reform has been a hot legislative issue. Now, it comes to a critical crossroad. Many aliens in the U.S. have been adversely affected by the visa bulletin retrogression, H-1B cap crisis, and other immigration legal problems. Although politicians are debating on all of these immigration issues in Congress, significant progress cannot be achieved without involvement from the numerous immigrants in the U.S., including many of our readers. So, we encourage you let your voice heard by the legislators by contacting Congressman. We have established an online system to help you contact Congress. Please click on the following link to see more immigration reform updates and contact Congressman through our online advocacy system.

http://www.hooyou.com/advocacy/index.html

In addition, the immigration reform bill must be approved by the House and Senate, and then signed by the President to become a law. The full implementation of the new immigration law needs at least one year, as border security must be enforced at first. There is still uncertainty about the passage and implementation of the new immigration bill. So, we suggest you submit your immigration petition now by whatever venue available to you at the current situation. The earlier, the better, that’s the thumb up rule in immigration applications.

(05/28/2007)

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