Citizenship path favored; Poll finds that many Latinos are concerned about the temporary nature of Bush's proposed guest-worker plan.
Orange County Register, News Report, COURTNEY PERKES, THERESA SALINAS and CINDY ARORA, Posted: Jan 30, 2004
Latinos across the country, from U.S.-born citizens to illegal immigrants, are split over President George W. Bush's plans for immigration reform, according to a poll released Thursday.
While the poll found some popular elements in the Bush proposal, most prefer an alternative that would pave the way to citizenship and eliminate the uncertainty of a guest-worker plan.
A similar mix of opinion can be found among Latinos in Orange County, where some embrace the temporary nature of Bush's plan, while others fault it for not offering enough of a solution for the estimated 8 to 10 million illegal immigrants in this country.
Evangelina Ruiz, a 34-year-old Santa Ana homemaker, supports Bush's plan.
``They already have homes and connections established in their countries,'' Ruiz said. ``They should retain that and not try to start something new here. They can work here, then go back to live. It's the best of both worlds.''
The poll found most Hispanics liked the following aspects of the president's proposal: the ability for workers to travel home to their native countries; the protection of labor laws like minimum wage; and receiving comparable credit for their Social Security contributions in their native countries.
But overall, 75 percent of respondents preferred allowing the undocumented to earn legalization rather than Bush's offer of short-term visas. And 63 percent said Bush didn't care about immigrants, but he was seeking Latino votes.
Santa Ana resident Patricia Miranda, 44, came to the United States from Guatemala illegally in 1990. The factory worker sought amnesty and is now a legal U.S. resident.
She opposes Bush's plan because it does not offer enough future security.
``I don't like the idea of them having you work here for three years and then taking your card away so you can get deported,'' Miranda said.
The poll, conducted this month, questioned U.S.-born Latinos, naturalized citizens, legal immigrants and undocumented immigrants. Sponsored by the James Irvine Foundation, it was conducted by Bendixen & Associates.
The White House on Thursday questioned the value of the poll because a key question mischaracterized Bush's proposal as limiting immigrants to a six-year stay.
Bush opposes letting illegal workers stay indefinitely, a presidential spokesman said, but details of how many times workers could renew the three-year visas will be negotiated with Congress.
``This president doesn't make decisions based on polls, he makes decisions based on what he thinks is right,'' said spokesman Trent Duffy.
Florida-based pollster Sergio Bendixen said that whether the program ended up being capped at six years or several more wasn't as important as the fact that immigrants would be forced to leave at some point.
Bendixen said any political consequences for Bush remain to be seen.
``We see very little change between the numbers now in terms of his job rating and the percent of Hispanic voters willing to support him, in comparison to polls before the proposal was made,'' Bendixen said.
``I think we can conclude the political impact has been negligible for now.''
Local experts said the poll results were not surprising.
``Immigration has become harder and harder in this country,'' said Irvine immigration attorney Michael Fischer. ``Any sign of loosening some of those more draconian measures will be met with a flurry of hope in the immigrant community.''
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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