Background:
The Gallup poll is an annual update on American public opinion about immigration

Key Facts:

• When asked if immigration should be kept at its present level, increased, or decreased, 35% of Americans said it should remain the same, only 15% thought it should be increased, and 47% were in favor of decreasing it
  
• 81% of Americans feel that immigration is out of control
  
• Three-quarters of the public believe it’s “extremely important” or “very important” to “develop a plan to a plan to deal with the large number of illegal immigrants who are already living in the U.S.”
  
• Americans believe that US policy could be much more effective by instituting tough penalties for businesses that employ illegal immigrants (52%), but it would be more difficult to increase the standard of living in countries from which most illegal immigrants come (28%)

Key Advice:

• When it comes to solutions, Americans by-and-large favor a constructive and realistic approach: 63% would allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States and become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements over a period of time, while only 18% would try to deport all illegal immigrants, and 17% would only allow them to work in the U.S. without the prospect of citizenship

Methodology:
Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,004 adults nationwide, ages 18 and above, conducted April 7-9, 2006. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.

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Background:
This poll was conducted to gauge public and partisan responses to current events and news articles dealing with U.S. immigration policies

Key Facts:

• 63% of Democrats disapprove of the current administration’s immigration polices. But most agree with Republicans that immigration should be decreased (39%) and/or remain the same (35%). Only 19% favor increasing the flow of immigrants.
  
• 55% of Independent voters disapprove of Bush’s immigration policies, and 47% are in favor of decreasing the number of immigrants in the U.S.
  
• 53% of Americans believe immigrants fill unwanted jobs, while 34% worry that immigrant take jobs away from Americans
  
• 74% of Americans favor allowing illegal immigrants to stay and work in the United States as long as they fulfill a combination of the following: paid a fine, have resided in the U.S. for at least five years, paid back taxes, learned English; and have no criminal record
  
• Americans are split 48% - 48% on the issue of building a fence on the border with Mexico
  
• Most Americans (67%) believe that providing aid to immigrants should not be a federal offense

Key Advice:

• Democrats do not agree with Bush’s current immigration policies, while Republicans mostly favor them. A slight majority -- 55% -- of Independent voters feel that a Democrat will make the right decisions on immigration.

Methodology:
This poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 899 adults, interviewed by telephone April 6-9, 2006. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. Error for subgroups may be higher.

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Background:
This poll was conducted as a survey of American sentiments on current immigration policy

Key Facts:

• 42% of Americans believe that immigrants make the country a better place, while 30% feel that they make it worse, and 20% believe that it depends on the situation
  
• 90% of Americans see immigration as a very serious problem on the national level, whereas only 47% of Americans see immigration as a serious problem in their community
  
• 87% of Americans are concerned about immigration becoming a burden on government programs and services
  
• 75% are concerned about the increase in crime due to immigration, while 24% remain unconcerned
  
• 66% fear an increase in terrorism due to illegal immigration, and the same percentage are concerned that increased immigration will take jobs away from Americans
  
• 54% are worried that immigration will change the culture; 44% say that’s not a concern
  
• 80% of Americans are in favor of an increase in federal agents at the US/ Mexico border
  
• 57% of Americans feel that immigrants carry greater allegiance to their home countries than to the United States, perhaps a factor contributing to the opinion of most Americans (77%) that immigrants should be required to learn English if they apply for citizenship
  
• 34% of Americans believe that Democrats are doing more to combat the immigration problem, 24% believe Republicans are, and 20% think that neither party is doing much

Key Advice:

• Americans worry more about immigration on the national level than within their communities
  
• Most Americans are concerned about immigration because they believe it will be a burden on our public resources and government programs
  
• Americans like the idea of increasing troops on the border and believe that Democrats are doing more to control immigration than Republicans

Methodology:
Polling was conducted by telephone May 2-3, 2006, in the evenings. The total sample is 900 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points. Results are of registered voters, unless otherwise noted.

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Background:
This poll was conducted in response to news articles on the subject of the Bush administration’s response to U.S. immigration

Key Facts:

• 71% of Americans say they would be more likely to vote for a Congressional candidate if he/she favored tighter controls on immigration
  
• 59% of Americans oppose President Bush’s proposition to allow illegal immigrants who currently have jobs in the U.S. to apply for legal temporary worker status; 37% are in favor of it
  
• 39% of Americans believe that we should grant temporary worker status based on the argument that it would allow the government to keep tabs on illegal immigrants who would probably make it into the United States anyway, whereas 56% believe that we should not grant illegal immigrants temporary worker status because it would encourage more illegal immigration, and people should not be rewarded for breaking the law

Key Advice:

• Americans want tighter controls on immigration and will respond favorably to candidates who offer to supply this

Methodology:
The poll questioned a sampling of 1005 adults -- 48% male, 52% female. The poll's margin of error is +/- 3.1%.

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Background:
This survey was conducted in anticipation of the state of the union address

Key Findings:

• Almost two-thirds (64%) of Americans say that illegal immigration is a very serious problem in the United States, and a majority believe the U.S. is not doing enough to secure its borders (74%).
  
• A majority (55%) think the U.S. would be “better off” deporting all illegal immigrants and toughening security at the borders; about one-third (35%) think the U.S. would be “worse-off.”
  
• 73% favor a guest worker program for illegal immigrants, with only a quarter (23%) opposing. The public is split (50%) on whether immigrants should be eligible to register for the program in the U.S. or have to return to their home countries to apply (46%).
  
• 3-in-4 Americans favor granting citizenship if illegal immigrants in the U.S. learn English, have a job, and pay taxes
  
• A majority (56%) think illegal immigrants are taking jobs that U.S. citizens do not want or cannot do
  
• Republicans, more than Democrats, believe illegal immigration is a very serous problem (75%-56%), as do Southerners (73%) and white, born-again Christians (77%).
  
• Those who live in the South and Midwest are more likely to say that illegal immigrants take jobs from U.S. citizens (46% and 39% respectively) than those who live in the Northeast (31%) and West (22%).
  
• Major concerns about illegal immigrants:
  
  • Immigrants strain our health care and education systems (62%)
    
  • Increase the likelihood of terrorism in the U.S. (47%)
    
  • Keep wages low for American workers (47%)
    
  • Increase the amount of crime (42%)
    
  • Take jobs away from Americans (38%)
    
  • Overcrowd the country (35%)

Key Advice:

• Most Americans favor tougher enforcement of border security and major penalties for hiring illegal immigrants
  
• Yet, at the same time, most Americans would approve of the president’s proposed guest worker program and would even allow illegal immigrants to gain citizenship under certain circumstances.
  
• There are clear partisan and geographic differences concerning the immigration issue
  
• The biggest concern for Americans regarding illegal immigration is the drain on taxpayers dollars to provide services such as health care or education

Methodology
This poll was conducted by telephone between January 24 and January 26, 2006 among a national random sample of 1002 adults, age 18 an older throughout the U.S. The margin of error for the entire sample is approximately +/- 3 %. The margin of error is higher for subgroups.

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Background:
The survey asks voters about their support for a comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform proposal that combines a guest worker program, family reunification, and a path to legal residency for undocumented immigrants who are already in the United States.

Key Findings:

• Three quarters of American voters support the proposal
  
• Over two thirds of all voters say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports this type of immigration proposal
  
• More than 8 in 10 believe that if an immigrant has been in this country working, paying taxes, and learning English, there should be a way for him or her to become a citizen

Key Advice:

• Most voters do not base their support for political candidates on the immigration issue. Even those who do are solidly in favor of this immigration reform proposal.
  
• Support for this proposal is solid across party, regional and demographic lines
  
• Voters overwhelmingly believe the immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. They want a controlled system that would replace an illegal immigration flow with a legal one
  
• The vast majority of voters believe that deporting the 10 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States is unrealistic

Methodology:
The survey responses were taken between March 20 and March 22, 2005 among a sample population of 800 registered “likely” voters. The margin of error was +/-3.5%.

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Background:
Gallup’s annual update on American public opinion about immigration

Key Findings:

• 46% of Americans say they want the level of immigration to decrease. About a third (34%) say they want immigration to be kept at its present level, and 16% want it to increase
  
• In June 2001, Americans were evenly divided on whether immigration should be kept at its present level (42%) or decreased (41%). Shortly after the 9/11 attacks a majority (58%) said immigration should be decreased.
  
• 6 in 10 Americans say immigration is a good thing for this country, while only a third (34%) says it’s a bad thing. Gallup found roughly the same results in 2001 and 2003, but Americans were slightly more negative in the first post-9/11 poll (June 2002), when 52% said immigration was a good thing and 42% said it was a bad thing
  
• 28% say the government should make it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens, while 70% say it should not.
  
• 50% of whites and 44% of blacks say immigration levels should be decreased, compared to only 32% of Hispanics. 74% of Hispanics say immigration is a good thing for the country today, while only 60% of whites and 55% of blacks share this view.

Key Advice:

• After September 11th, views on immigration became more hostile with a majority of Americans in favor of decreasing immigration. However, Americans want to make it possible for more immigrants to become citizens if they so choose.

Methodology:
Results are based on telephone interviews with 2,264 adults nationwide, age 18 and older, conducted June 6-25, 2005. The process included over-samples of blacks and Hispanics that are weighted to reflect their proportions in the general population. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±5 percentage points.

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Background:
The survey was conducted among Latinos in the U.S. and Mexico on attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy options.

Key Findings:

• 80 percent of Latinos say that immigrants strengthen the United States because of their hard work, while a small share (14%) say they are a burden because they take jobs, housing and health care.
  
• When asked about illegal migrants, most Latinos (68%) say they help the economy by providing low-cost labor rather than hurt the economy by driving wages down (23%).
  
• Most Hispanics think that the number of legal immigrants coming to the United States from Latin America should stay the same (43%) or be reduced (13%). A little less than a third (31%) believe the number should be increased.
  
• A slight majority (56%) of Hispanics favor proposals to create a temporary worker program that would allow current illegal migrants to live and work in the United States legally for a number of years before obliging them to return home. A much larger majority (84%) favors proposals that would give unauthorized migrants permanent legal status and citizenship.
  
• A fifth of Mexican adults (21%) said they would be inclined to go live and work in the United States without authorization
  
• A majority of Mexicans (53%) say they would be inclined to go to the United States through a temporary worker program that would require them to return to Mexico in some years, and even greater majorities (68% in February; 71% in May) said their relatives and friends would be interested in participating.
  
• More than a third of Mexican college graduates said they would go to the United States if they had the means and the opportunity, and more than one in eight (13%) said they were inclined to do so without authorization.

Key Advice:

• Although an overwhelming majority of Hispanics expresses positive attitudes toward immigrants, relatively few Hispanics favor increasing the flow of legal immigration from Latin America and a significant minority -- concentrated among native-born Latinos -- is concerned that unauthorized migrants are hurting the economy.
  
• The propensity to migrate is evident in all sectors of Mexican society, although it is somewhat higher among males, young adults, and people with relatives already in the United States.
  
• The survey of U.S. Latinos shows greater support among Hispanics for proposals that would offer permanent legal status to unauthorized migrants now in the country than for a temporary worker program.

Methodology:
The PHC Survey of Latinos, June 2005 was conducted by telephone among a nationally representative sample of 1001 Latino respondents from June 14 to June 27. The survey has a margin of error of 3.1% for the full sample. In Mexico, two surveys were conducted (February and May); both were nationally representative samples of 1200 adults who were interviewed in their homes, and both had a 3% margin of error.

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Background:
The subject of the survey is citizens’ reactions to immigration in Japan, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Key Findings:

• Respondents views on whether immigrants are having a good or bad influence on the way things are going in their country:
  
  • 14% of the US said very good, 28% somewhat good, 31% somewhat bad, 16 % very bad, 11% not sure
    
  • The overall positive attitude in the U.S. (42%) was lower than Canada (73%), but about the same (within 6 points) as most of the other countries, with the exception of U.K. which had the lowest overall positive attitude (32%).
  
  
• 27% of US citizens think immigrants take away jobs. This sentiment was strongest in Mexico (40%). Other countries showed much higher portions (ranging from 66% to 77%)
  
• In Mexico, a large majority (71%) said they think it’s better if almost everyone in a country shares the same customs and traditions. In Canada -- and even more in the U.S. -- such a statement received only minority agreement: 40% in Canada and 27% in the U.S.
  
• The statement, “it is better for a country to have a variety of people with different religions” elicited broad and strong agreement across the survey (90% in the United States), though a large minority of Germans (42%) disagreed.

Key Advice:

• Citizens in many of the countries that were polled expressed negative feeling about immigrants in their country. But in most countries, those with more education tended to have the most positive view of the influence of immigration.
  
• Immigration -- and the extent to which a country encourages or puts roadblocks up to stop immigration -- is an especially sensitive topic in Europe as the EU expands.
  
• Germans generally hold negative views toward immigration, perhaps explained by the relatively high unemployment rate and post-9/11 fears about security and terrorism
  
• Most citizens polled think that immigrants take jobs that ordinary citizens would not want, but other factors appear to outweigh this one. The result is a negative view of immigration overall.

Methodology
This survey was based on an Ipsos Globus International Affairs poll taken between May 7 and 17, 2004 in nine countries with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points. The nationally representative samples consisted of:
U.S.:1000
France: 938
Spain 1001
Canada: 1000
Germany: 1000
U.K.; 993
Mexico: 1005
Italy: 1001
Japan: 1000

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Background:
The survey measures the public’s general attitudes regarding immigration and immigration policy. It also compares the opinions of immigrants to the opinions of non-immigrants.

Key Findings:

• 41% of the public says that legal immigration to the United States should be decreased, a drop from the 59% that CBS News/NY Times found when they asked the same question in December 2001
  
• Nearly as many people (37%) say legal immigration should be kept at its present level as say it should be decreased (41%)
  
• 54% of the public believes that most recent immigrants are in the country illegally
  
• About half (51%) of non-immigrants say that recent immigrants take jobs away from Americans who want them, though few say they or a family member have lost a job to an immigrant (12%), or not gotten a job because it was given to an immigrant instead (15%)
  
• Most Americans are concerned that taxpayers have to pay too much to provide services like schools and health care to illegal immigrants (63%), that “too many people are coming into the country” (59%), that “the wrong kinds of people are coming into the country” (54%), and that “illegal immigration increases the likelihood of terrorism” (56%).
  
• For immigrants who are concerned about illegal immigration, the biggest concern is that illegal immigration is dangerous for immigrants (43%).

Key Advice:

• The public’s views on immigration are significantly less negative than they were in the months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
  
• Those who think most recent immigrants to the United States are here illegally have more negative views of immigration and immigrants than do those who think most are here legally
  
• Americans express ambivalence -- and some unease -- about the cultural impact of immigration
  
• Immigration is not a particularly partisan issue, and the president’s proposal draws stronger opposition than support from both parties. Although Republicans and Democrats do differ on some of their attitudes about immigration and immigrants, the differences are not nearly so wide as on other issues

Methodology
The NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School Immigration Study was conducted by telephone May 27-August 2, 2004 among a nationally representative sample of 1888 respondents 18 years of age and older. A total of 1104 interviews were completed with non-immigrants, and a total of 784 interviews were completed with immigrants. The margin of sampling error (at a 95 percent confidence level) is +/- 3 percentage points for the total population; +/- 3 percentage points for non-immigrants; and =/- 5 percentage points for immigrants. For results based on subsets of respondents the margin of error is higher.

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Background
The Hamilton College Poll addresses the recent surge in interest concerning immigration, and American views on U.S. immigration policy on diverse issues ranging from the appropriate level of immigration, to national security, public assistance, and the treatment of Iraqi refuges fleeing Saddam Hussein.

Key Findings:

• 41% of U.S. residents favor decreasing immigration levels, although 57% believe that immigrants enhance American society. The desire to reduce immigration is stronger in the central and southern states than in eastern of western states.
  
• About 60% of Americans believe that immigrants take jobs US residents do not want, while 23% feel they take jobs that Americans want. Only 12% of workers are worried about losing their job to an immigrant.
  
• 65% of urban residents believe immigrants enhance society, compared to 49% in small town and rural areas
  
• Over half of U.S. residents believe that most immigrants are in the U.S. illegally, although the true estimate is less than 30%.
  
• Over half of all Americans would feel very or somewhat uncomfortable if an immigrant from the Middle East moved into the neighborhood. This compares to 22% who would be uncomfortable with immigrants from Europe, 27% with immigrants from Asia, and 29% with immigrants from Mexico
  
• Only 20% of Americans favor increasing refugee levels (as opposed to immigrant levels) to pre-September 11th levels; 70% say they should not be increased.

Key Advice:

• Americans are most concerned about immigration as a threat to national security
  
• The poll reveals that attitudes on immigration policy vary significantly by age and education, with higher support for immigration among the younger population.
  
• The poll finds that Americans generally believe that immigration has positive effects on the economy and on society in general, a view seemingly at odds with the large numbers wanting to decrease the level of immigration

Methodology
A sample of 1078 randomly selected households was polled. Zogby personnel completed 1083 calls between November 21 and November 26, 2002. The final survey had approximately +/- 3 percent margin of sampling error. The original sample was re-weighted by education levels using 2001 Current Population Survey results.

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The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations
"Global Views 2004: American Public Opinion and Foreign Policy (2004)"

• The public opposes increasing legal immigration levels (only 11% support an increase) and also opposes unilateral reform measures such as giving undocumented workers temporary worker status (52% oppose).
  
• Controlling and reducing illegal immigration is still a high priority for the public (59%), while the leaders are less concerned about the issue (21%)
  
• The public is willing to endorse a bilateral agreement with Mexico that would increase legal immigration levels in the United States in exchange for Mexican efforts to reduce illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
  
• Leaders support keeping immigration at its current level (50%) or increasing it (33%). They support temporary worker status (71%) for the undocumented and favor the bilateral agreement with Mexico.

Public Agenda / Foreign Affairs
"Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index (2005)"

• Three-quarters of the public give the U.S. a “C” grade or worse in “protecting our borders from illegal immigration.” Nearly one-quarter give the U.S. an “F.”
  
• 58% say tighter controls on immigration would strengthen national security “a great deal,” and 30% say they would at least “somewhat” strengthen security.

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Background:
As part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) campaign research program, Public Opinion Strategies (POS) and Talmey-Drake conducted focus groups and a national survey to gauge how receptive the public would be to increasing US international assistance and humanitarian support.

Key Facts:

• A plurality of the American public (33%) says it wants our leaders and the leaders of other countries to focus first and foremost on terrorism. Ranked against other possibilities, only 1% say poverty and only 1% say hunger should be the top concern.
  
• When respondents were asked to name the next most important issue after terrorism (or their top priority), an overwhelming 48% said leaders should focus on the economy and jobs
  
• Most Americans (58%) support giving $25 billion in non-military international assistance if they know the funds will go to support MDGs
  
• After hearing convincing arguments, the demographic groups most likely to increase their support for increased non-military international assistance are younger voters, democrats, moderates, women, and voters with a religious affiliation
  
• The public does not feel as confident in the UN as it does in other international institutions. The public is more likely to support the allocation of $25 billion to reach the Millennium Development Goals if the Red Cross, World Health Organization, and/or UNICEF take a leading role in overseeing these goals rather than the UN
  
• Out of a list of eight goals Americans would be likely to support, 23% put ensuring that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary education first; 20% believe it is most important to halt the spread of major diseases like HIV and malaria; and 16% prioritize reducing by one-half the number of people without safe drinking water

Key Advice:

• Among messages arguing for increased non-military foreign assistance, respondents found the following message by far the most convincing: “It is important for developing nations to learn how to provide for themselves. Investing today in helping people in poor areas of the world develop the tools they need to provide for themselves will go a long way to help ensure their ability to be self-sufficient in the future.”
  
• Americans generally view to UN unfavorably and would rather have private NGOs allocating and in charge of their funds/projects. There is, however, a demographic split between those who favor the UN and those who oppose it, the ones in favor tending to be democrats, women, and voters with a religious affiliation.
  
• The American public is generally uninformed about the MDGs and therefore wary about spending more money on them or non-military international assistance, however, when the goals are explained to them, increased support is evident. Within specific goals, Americans support education foremost followed by disease prevention and water safety.

Methodology:
Public Opinion Strategies and Talmey-Drake conducted 10 focus groups on behalf of the Better World Campaign in Tampa, Florida; Boston, Massachusetts; Portland, Oregon; New York, New York; and Dallas, Texas. Two groups were conducted in each city. The groups were conducted among the following target constituencies: College Students; Corporate/Business Community Leaders; Faith Based Americans; Labor/Union Members; Swing Voters; and Republicans and Democrat Influentials/Opinion Elites. Incorporating the findings from the focus groups, POS and Talmey-Drake then conducted a national survey April 13-18, 2004 among 1000 registered voters. The margin of error is + 3.1%.

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Background:
This survey researches what Americans think about poverty and hunger both at home and abroad, and it asks what we should do to reduce these problems.

Key Facts:

• From July 2002 to March 2006, the percentage of Americans citing hunger and poverty as the single most important issue more than doubled from 4% to 10%
  
• When asked if the hunger problem in the United States was getting better or worse, 48% believe it was getting worse, and only 8% thought it was getting better
  
• When asked about hunger around the world, 63% of Americans said the situation is getting worse, and only 7% think it is improving
  
• 66% of Americans said they would support a 2008 presidential candidate who made fighting hunger and poverty in the US a priority. 85% of Americans said that a Congressional candidate’s position on reducing poverty would be important
  
• 62% of Americans think that the government currently spends too little to reduce hunger in the US; only 9% say it spends too much
  
• Voters are more interested in long term solutions to hunger. 69% of Americans prefer raising minimum wage rather than increasing food stamps (22%) as an effective way to combat poverty
  
• Despite perceptions that hunger is worsening Americans remain optimistic about our ability to combat the problem: 70% of American voters agree it is possible to significantly reduce poverty in the next decade

Key Advice:

• The majority of Americans, Republicans and Democrats alike, believe that poverty and hunger are central and important issues in the US and around the world today.
  
• While on the whole more Americans are concerned with poverty and hunger within our borders, a majority also favors aid to assist other countries.
  
• Americans understand the realities of poverty and hunger in the US and around the world, but believe that we have the power to combat these problems with the proper allocations of aid and investment in long term programs.

Methodology:
This poll of 1000 likely general election voters in the United States was conducted between March 27-29, 2006. All interviews were conducted via telephone by professional interviewers. Interview selection was random within predetermined election units – in this case, the fifty states. These units were structured to correlate with actual voter turnout in a general election.

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