These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
More Voters Still Think Federal Government Encourages Illegal Immigration
Most voters continue to believe that the policies of the federal government encourage illegal immigration, but voters are now almost evenly divided over whether it's better to let the federal government or individual states enforce immigration laws.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 57% of Likely U.S. Voters think the policies and practices of the federal government encourage illegal immigration, comparable to findings in October 2009 but down slightly from 62% last September after the Arizona immigration law had been in the headlines for several months. Twenty-one percent (21%) disagree and say the federal government does not encourage illegal immigration through its actions, but another 22% aren't sure. (To see survey question wording, click here .)
Forty-seven percent (47%) say relying on the federal government to enforce immigration laws is a better approach than allowing individual states to act on their own to enforce them. Forty-four percent (44%) take the opposite view and say the better approach is to allow states to enforce immigration laws, but that's down 11 points from September.
Consistent with findings for several years , however, are the 68% who say gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing the status of undocumented workers who are already living in the United States. Twenty-five percent (25%) think legalizing illegal immigrants who are already here should come first.
Most voters (64%), in fact, still believe the U.S. military should be used along the Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration, down only slightly from last May when President Obama announced he was sending troops there but only to prevent Mexican drug violence from spilling over into this country.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters nationwide was conducted on February 2-3, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC . See methodology .
A majority of voters (52%) also continue to favor a policy that would welcome all immigrants except "national security threats, criminals and those who would come here to live off our welfare system." Twenty-nine percent (29%) disagree with such an approach, while 18% more are not sure about it.
The number that favors a welcoming policy is down from 58% last April , but most voters have supported such a policy with only these restrictions for years .
Republicans and voters not affiliated with either of the major political parties are more than twice as likely as Democrats to think federal government policies and practices encourage illegal immigration.
While most Republicans (60%) favor states acting on their own to enforce immigration, virtually the same number of Democrats (59%) think it's better to rely on the federal government for immigration law enforcement. Voters not affiliated with either major political party are evenly divided on the question.
Generally speaking, however, Republicans and unaffiliateds take a harder line approach to stopping illegal immigration than Democratic voters do. There's a similar divide between Mainstream voters and the Political Class on policies to deal with illegal immigration.
A sizable majority (78%) of Mainstream voters say gaining control of the border should come before legalizing the status of illegal immigrants already in the country, but those in the Political Class are almost evenly divided on the question. Seventy percent (70%) of those in the Mainstream say the policies and practices of the federal government encourage illegal immigration; 54% of Political Class voters disagree.
Most Political Class voters (65%) also favor relying on the federal government to enforce immigration law, while 55% of Mainstream voters think it's better to allow individual states to act on their own.
Voters in surveys last year consistently favored the passage of an Arizona-like immigration law in their state. Elected officials in several other states are now pushing to pass similar laws.
Before the end of the lame duck session of the last Congress in December , voters were evenly divided over whether young people brought to this country illegally by their parents should be viewed as breaking the law.
In August, 58% of Americans opposed automatic citizenship for a child born in this country to an illegal immigrant .