Fitzsimon File

Some good news this week about the immigration debate in Congress and in North Carolina.  The public wants a real debate about the issue and rejects the worst demagoguery of anti-immigration sentiment that some politicians are spewing to get attention and votes.

A national poll released Thursday afternoon by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Research for the People and the Press shows people across the country and in the Triangle region of North Carolina are divided about the benefits and costs of immigration and how to reduce the number of undocumented workers coming into the country.

The national poll was conducted in February and early March and includes separate surveys in five metro areas with high rates of growth in immigrant population, including the Triangle. 

Nationally, roughly the same percentage of people say immigrants strengthen society as say they are a threat to traditional American values and across the country far more people have a positive view of immigrants than felt that way in 1990.

The Triangle poll results were fairly similar to the national numbers on most questions. Twenty-six percent of Triangle residents polled said that immigration was a very big problem in their community. That was second on the list of problems. Traffic was number one at 29 percent, and the availability of good jobs was third at 22. 

The poll found that 36 percent of people in the Triangle thought that recent immigrants have made local government services worse, but 52 percent said they haven’t made much difference.  That must come as surprising news to politicians claming that undocumented workers are overcrowding schools and social service agencies.

The results are certainly not all pro-immigration in the Triangle. Sixty-two percent of residents think that immigrants do not pay their fair share of taxes, but that does not translate into a majority sentiment that they should be rounded up and sent home.

The survey asked what should happen to illegal immigrants, using the phrase often favored by people who believe in cutting off services and increasing arrests and deportation.

Twenty-three percent said require them to return home, 33 percent said they should be granted temporary work status and 35 percent said they should be allowed to stay in North Carolina permanently.

The poll asked about the best way to reduce illegal immigration from Mexico and 52 percent of those responding in the Triangle said penalize employers who hire undocumented workers.

Thirty-one percent said increase border patrols, 7 percent said build more fences.  It appears that people in Triangle believe businesses are the problem, not the undocumented immigrants businesses bring here to work.

Finally, 54 percent of Triangle residents said they had a lot or some confidence in local officials on immigration. Forty-two percent said they had not too much or no confidence at all in their local government to deal with the problem.

It would be a mistake to over emphasize the poll results in North Carolina. The survey was taken in the relatively affluent Triangle, not in rural North Carolina where the economy is still struggling and economic frustration may be more fertile ground for the hard right anti-immigration message.

But it’s hard not to be encouraged by results. People across the country and in the Triangle are clearly concerned about immigration and divided about how to address it, but they understand the contributions immigrants make to the community and aren’t likely to respond to knee-jerk appeals to fear and stereotypes.

It appears the people are leading the way on the debate. Let’s hope the leaders follow.

 Email This Post  Print This Post

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 30th, 2006 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Fitzsimon File. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.