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People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

Americans are hardline on immigration reform new poll shows

Posted on Monday, May 03, 2010 at 10:53 PM

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The overwhelming majority of Americans think the country’s immigration policies need to be drastically changed with a much bigger emphasis on enforcement.

The New York Times/CBS poll shows 78 per cent want better border enforcement.

Three quarters said that, over all, illegal immigrants are a drain on the American economy because they don't pay taxes and use hospitals and schools. Only 20 per cent said the immigrants strengthened the economy by providing low-cost labor.

A majority of Americans support Arizona's new law even though they admit it may lead to racial profiling. In all fifty one per cent agree with the new Arizona law.

However, a majority of the Americans polled, 57 per cent say the federal government should write immigration law, not the states.

“The Arizona law is fine, but the federal government has to step in and come up with something — and they’re not doing it,” Pat Turkos, 64, a library worker and Republican from Baltimore told The New York Times.

She said: “I don’t think they should be stopped just walking down the street, only if they’re stopped for speeding, for example. I believe everybody has the right to come here, but I think they have to be made legal citizens.”

There is sharp geographic divide over immigration with East Coast and West Coast far more liberal and Midwest and South conservative .

Democrats are far more likely than Republicans or independents to support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants now in the country.

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Monsoonman | May 06, 2010, 10:07 AM EDT

rcdskpr: When something is not earned but given, it is demeaned. I think that is why you will see the native born American liberals don't have a sense of what value American citizenship meant and why it is important to defend our borders.

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rcrdskpr@aol.com | May 05, 2010, 09:52 PM EDT

there is no value when something is given cheaply.

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FastEddy | May 05, 2010, 09:44 PM EDT

Mmmm ... seems American are hard line on any enforcement of the laws of this land. Ireland?

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IrishProud | May 05, 2010, 05:24 PM EDT

I would probably go for the hard working illegals who are already here to apply for citizenship. They would then be paid at least minimum wage and would pay income taxes and get health insurance. My ancestors were allowed to come here from Ireland They became citizens.

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IrishProud | May 05, 2010, 05:16 PM EDT

Readers, please note that IrishAndProud is not IrishProud. I almost thought that comment was mine.

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IrishAndProud | May 05, 2010, 03:07 PM EDT

Of course not, ritmomente. How 'hard' a person works, or how 'sorry' I feel for them, or whether they're related to me or not...are all irrelevant. Doing it LEGALLY is what matters. Oh and btw...my cousin's WIFE did indeed immigrate from overseas...but did it the right way and got a green card. It took time, but she did it LEGALLY.

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ritmomente | May 05, 2010, 02:21 PM EDT

irishandproud, if your cousin were to come over and want to stay and work without the possibility of a visa, would you let him/her stay?

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Fran Connor | May 05, 2010, 10:18 AM EDT

Allowing people into our country to find work is one thing. Granting them citizenship (along with it's rights - such as "free" health insurance) is totally different. By the way, how are the Irish enjoying all of their new citizens?

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Monsoonman | May 05, 2010, 09:11 AM EDT

Sounds like someone should practice an American "right" before an even deeper hole is dug...The right to remain silent.

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DennisQ | May 05, 2010, 05:15 AM EDT

You seem to think this about correct attitudes, but it's not. It's about finding a balance between competing rights. On the one hand, countries do have a legitimate interest in border security. But I think people have more of a right than you're allowing them to cross national boundaries to find work. I've said all along that laws regulate human activity, the same as traffic lights. Overly restrictive immigration laws don't regulate; they merely obstruct.

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IrishAndProud | May 05, 2010, 04:16 AM EDT

Incidentally, a black man I once knew (who was from Georgia and who personally knew Klan members) nonetheless made a point that he was NEVER called the 'n' word until he was up north...in Massachussetts, I believe. You see, Dennis, you can pretend by inference that certain states are more 'hip' and 'tolerant' than others...but it ain't so. You yourself are openly BIGOTED against southerners and old people. Your own posts, kiddo. Do you dislike the Jews too, by any chance?

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IrishAndProud | May 05, 2010, 04:11 AM EDT

My gosh, Dennis...Evan Meacham was TWENTY YEARS AGO. And last I looked...there are an awful lot of young folks who agree with the new AZ law, as well (unless Arizona and the nation are 70% elderly). Maybe YOUR place of residents is full of cranky old 'progressives' who, like yourself, condescend against entire REGIONS if they ever do anything that you personally disagree with. Oh...and Massachusetts just handed the old Kennedy seat to a Repub, who specifically ran against 'Obamacare.'

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DennisQ | May 04, 2010, 10:56 PM EDT

Arizona is full of cranky old dudes who don't want any kind of change. Only Arizona would elect a guy like Evan Meacham, whose first official act as Governor was to get rid of Martin Luther King Day. The state is in a category by itself. Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi are full of rednecks, but compared to Arizona they look like Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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IrishAndProud | May 04, 2010, 03:17 PM EDT

And btw...if Arizona was really just miffed that McCain lost, then how come he's in political trouble, in his upcoming primary? Shouldn't he be a shoo-in, again? (Perhaps all this merely reflects what Gallup found: self-identified liberals are only 21% of the U.S. populace. Yessir, Dennis...liberalism is the wave of the future...) (busts out laughing, here) HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAA.....!

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IrishAndProud | May 04, 2010, 03:14 PM EDT

(cont'd)...And further, Dennis, you say that this is all nothing more than 'Republican xenophobia' and that the country (minus those dirty Arizonans, of course) has 'moved on'...and yet as the article above shows, the country stands WITH Arizona! So either you 'missed' noticing that, or you're saying the whole country's STUPID, for falling for this so-called ploy (which is MORE condescention and arrogance, on your part). Which is it, kiddo?

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