Path to citizenship wins favor - Poll finds 63% back that tenet of bill

Path to citizenship wins favor - Poll finds 63% back that tenet of bill
By Janet Hook
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times
Published June 13, 2007

WASHINGTON -- A strong majority of Americans, including nearly two-thirds of Republicans, favors allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens if they pay fines, learn English and meet other requirements, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found.

That is a striking show of support for the central tenet of legislation that has stalled in the Senate amid opposition from conservatives.

Only 23 percent of adults surveyed opposed allowing immigrants to become legal. That bolsters the view, shared by President Bush, that the bill's opponents represent a vocal minority, whereas most people are more welcoming toward illegal immigrants.

"They are willing to take jobs that our people aren't interested in, and I think this helps the economy," Joseph Simpkins, a retired dry cleaner in New Jersey who participated in the survey, said in a follow-up interview. "As long as they pay taxes, I see nothing wrong with having them become citizens."

The immigration bill, a priority for the White House, is languishing when Bush's approval ratings are at a new low: The poll found that 34 percent approved of the job Bush was doing, the lowest rating registered by the Los Angeles Times poll throughout his presidency.

Those and other poll findings paint a portrait of a pessimistic electorate. More than two-thirds of those surveyed -- 69 percent -- think the country is seriously on the wrong track, nearly matching the highest level of pessimism since 1992.

Debate on immigration heated up in recent weeks as the Senate has taken up -- and last week blocked, at least for now -- a Bush-backed measure.

The bill aims to establish a pathway for illegal immigrants to become citizens if they meet certain requirements. It also would provide a guest worker program to provide temporary visas for immigrant workers, and create a point system for evaluating new immigrants that would put less weight on family ties and more on applicants' skills and education.

Underscoring the urgency of the debate, 13 percent of those surveyed said illegal immigration was not an important problem; 86 percent said it was.

Although the pathway to citizenship was one of the most controversial provisions of the Senate bill, the poll found the idea was backed by 63 percent of those surveyed -- including 58 percent of those who identified themselves as conservatives and 65 percent of Republicans.