The New York Times and CBS News conducted a poll of 1,079 adults over the period April 29-May 2, 2010.
Over 60 percent of Americans want to allow undocumented immigrants to stay in some capacity.T When asked to evaluate the statement “illegal immigrants who are currently working in the U.S… should be allowed to stay in their jobs and to eventually apply for U.S. citizenship, or they should be allowed to stay in their jobs only as guest workers,” 64% of respondents agreed. [New York Times]
The majority of Americans think that laws regarding undocumented immigration should be determined by the federal government. When asked whether laws regarding undocumented immigrants should be determined by federal or state governments, 57% of respondents said that the federal government should determine immigration laws, while 34% said each state government should determine them. [New York Times]
Thirty-six percent of respondents said the Arizona law went too far, while 51% said it was “about right.”Respondents were asked: “The state of Arizona recently passed a law that gives police the power to question anyone they suspect is in the country illegally, requires people to produce documents verifying their status if asked, and allows officers to detain anyone who cannot do so. Do you think this law goes too far, doesn’t go far enough, or is about right?” Thirty-six percent of respondents said the law went too far, while 51% said it was “about right.” Nine percent of respondents said the law didn’t go far enough.
Overwhelming majorities of Americans agree that Arizona’s immigration law will likely encourage racial profiling. When asked if they thought that Arizona’s immigration law “would lead to police officers detaining people of certain racial or ethnic groups more likely than other racial or ethnic groups,” 50% of respondents said they found this “very likely,” and another 32% said it was “somewhat likely.” Only 15% of respondents either said racial profiling was “not very likely” or “not at all likely” to result from the law.
