National Survey Finds Strong Support for Path to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants

The Immigration Opinion Survey conducted for the American Friends Service Committee, the year’s largest opinion study on the U.S. public’s views on immigration topics, finds that the public is strongly in favor of immigration reform that includes a path to permanent residency for undocumented immigrants and keeps immigrant families together.

Public supports family unity, path to citizenship and opposes more fences

In the study, respondents stated that they strongly agreed with the statement, “The nation’s immigration system was broken,” with a rating of eight (8.03) on a ten point scale. They also felt (6.9) that “Building more fences will not stop the flow of immigrants into the U.S.”

Most favored the statement, “A legal path to permanent residency and eventual citizenship should be available to all immigrants who have built a life in this country.” Two-thirds (66.6%) of those surveyed expressed their support and only about one-in-four (26%) disagreed with the statement.

Those surveyed strongly agreed (7.74) with the statement, “Keeping families together should be a priority in our immigration policies.” There was moderate agreement (5.71) with the statement “Temporary guest workers are a bad idea because they leave workers at the mercy of employers.”

In thinking about the political climate, respondents gave considerable support (6.87) for the statement, “Politicians blame illegal immigrants for our social problems to avoid handling real solutions to the nation’s problems with jobs, education, and health care.” They also strongly agreed (6.95) with the statement, “White supremacist groups use the immigration debate as a recruiting tool.”

“Congress should listen to the people in this country and craft less punitive and more family-friendly reform legislation that gives people who have built a life in this country a clear path to legal residency,” says Esther Nieves, director of immigrant and refugee rights for the American Friends Service Committee. “We need to stop scapegoating immigrants for our problems and spending billions on border fences and enforcement, which are only creating a humanitarian disaster on the U.S.-Mexico border, and find humane and effective alternatives instead.”

Majority of U.S. public says immigrants are not “a threat”

The survey results indicated that most of the U.S. public does not view immigrants as a threat. They strongly agreed (7.56) that “Immigrants come to the U.S. to work, not do us harm.” Respondents felt, “Immigrants are hard working people who take any job they can get (7.71).”

In terms of their own job most respondents see immigrants as no threat at all (63.3%). Less than one third of respondents felt that immigrants were a either a large threat (10.9%), some threat (10.2%) or a small threat (8.9%).

More than half (51.6%) of the respondents said that their religious beliefs or value system provided them with a sense of compassion for undocumented immigrants.

Ideas about immigration

Respondents very strongly agreed (8.4) with the statement, “We are a nation of immigrants.”

By high margins the U.S. public indicated they felt that immigrants come to the to the country to escape poverty (88.9%), to escape persecution in their home country (68.1%) and to seek more economic opportunity (96.0%).

Most respondents (82.7%) felt that the rate of undocumented immigration to the U.S. has increased over the past ten years.

About the Immigration Opinion Survey

The study had a sampling error of plus or minus 2.9% with 95% confidence, which means if the study was repeated 100 times, the results would be within +/- 2.9% 95 times out of 100. The study period for the telephone interviewing was May 24 to June 16, 2007. Respondents were eighteen years of age or older. They were interviewed by telephone, using a random digit dialing (RDD) sample of 1,000 persons along with augmented random samples of African Americans and Hispanics, which yielded 200 additional respondents chosen from high density geographic areas. The final sample was statistically weighted to approximate the U.S. population. The refusal rate for the RDD sample was 56%, and 55% for the African American and 56% for the Hispanic augmented samples.

Note: Figures in this press release that are numbers, (e.g. 7.2) are based on a zero-to-ten scale with zero being not at all in agreement and ten being the highest level of agreement. Other figures, such as 62.6%, represent a frequency percentage of the sample.

William L. Rosenberg, Ph.D., a nationally recognized opinion research expert, served as the independent director for this study. Dr. Rosenberg has co-authored two books on national politics and has conducted more than 80 national and regional studies.

More information on this study can be obtained from Mark Graham, American Friends Service Committee immigration opinion survey coordinator at 215-241-7882 or mgraham@afsc.org. More about AFSC’s survey is available on the web at www.afsc.org/immigration-survey/.

About the American Friends Service Committee

The AFSC is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

The Service Committee supports the rights and dignity of all people, regardless of their immigration status. AFSC works to uplift migrant voices and strengthen migrant-led efforts to advocate for fair and humane national public policies.

For more information on AFSC’s immigrant rights work, visit www.afsc.org/immigrants-rights.