Latino voters support earned legalization.

Eighty-percent of registered Latino voters support an immigration proposal, similar to one recently proposed in the U.S. Senate that would allow immigrants currently in the United States to earn their way to citizenship, according to a recent poll conducted for the Latino Policy Coalition. The extensive survey, conducted by Lake Research Partners in 23 states across the U.S., also found that nearly one-quarter of all Latino registered voters, equal to roughly 2.5 million Latino voters, either participated in or knew someone who participated in the recent rallies and marches.

“This survey underscores incredible consensus within the Latino community for a workable immigration plan,” said Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research Partners, who conducted the survey for the Latino Policy Coalition. “Latino voters are clearly concerned about the immigration issue, and are focused on workable solutions — so much so that they, their families, and their friends have taken to the streets to make their voices heard.”

Support for a guest worker program as well as a path to citizenship is broad and intense. Of the eighty-percent who favor a guest worker program, two-thirds (67 pct.) strongly support such a program. Only 15 pct. oppose a guest worker program.

Specifically, the survey found support for immigrants passing a criminal background check (87 pct.); having a job (86 pct.); learning English (79 pct.); passing a health screen and paying back taxes (77 pct.); and living in the U.S. for at least five years (71 pct.). Overall, 79 pct. of Latino voters found illegal immigration to be a serious problem.

In addition to the immigration legislation findings, the Latino Policy Coalition survey found solid support (48 pct. to 25 pct.) among Latino voters for the marches and protests that recently have been taking place. Indeed nearly one-quarter of Latino voters have either participated in or knew someone who took part in the rallies and marches.

“While some see division on immigration, this survey and others indicate consensus,” said Dr. Fernando Guerra, Director of the Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. “There is remarkable consensus across the nation, across ethnic groups, and across the ideological spectrum that the solutions to the immigration issue are: strengthening the border, creating a path to citizenship for those who are here, and establish a guest worker program.”

The survey, conducted by Lake Research Partners, surveyed 1,000 Latino adults (800 Latino registered voters) in 23 states with the highest Latino population density. It was conducted April 20-26, 2006 and has a margin of error of plus/minus 3.2 percent.

Latino Perspectives on Immigration

Latino voters are concerned about illegal immigration and have clear prescriptions to address the issue. Most Latino voters see illegal immigration as a serious problem (79 pct.), including a majority who see it as a very serious problem (54 pct.). This concern holds true across all major demographic and regional lines within the Latino community.

Support for a guest worker program as well as a path to citizenship is broad and intense. Fully 80 pct. of Latino registered voters favor an earned citizenship program that allows immigrants in the U.S. to gain eventual citizenship by paying a fine, learning English and U.S. history, and paying all owed taxes. This includes 65 pct. of Latino registered voters who support it strongly.

Support is similarly robust (80 percent) for a guest worker program that would allow immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally to apply for work permits allowing them to stay and work in the U.S. Two-thirds of Latino registered voters (67 pct.) support this proposal strongly.

— By wide margins, a majority of Latino voters would prefer to allow illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements, rather than make illegal immigrants felons or institute guest worker program for a limited amount of time. When given a choice, 61 pct. favor allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. and become U.S. citizens, but only if they meet certain requirements like working and paying back taxes over a period of time. Fifteen percent of Latino voters prefer to have a guest worker program that allows immigrants to remain in the U.S. in order to work, but only for a limited amount of time and just 16 pct. favor making all illegal immigrants felons and send them back to their home country.

Latino voters are far less supportive of a guest worker program that deports illegal immigrants after 3-6 years. By comparison, 58 pct. of Latino voters support such a program and strong support drops down to 43 pct.

These findings fall very much in line with attitudes among all voters nationwide when it comes to solutions to illegal immigration. A recently released survey for the National Immigration Forum shows 80 pct. of voters support requiring undocumented workers living in the U.S. to come forward and register as temporary guest workers and 63 pct. support providing these newly registered workers with a multi-year process for legal residency and eventual citizenship.

Latino Attitudes on Recent Political Actions

On a related front, close to one-quarter of Latino voters (24 percent) know someone who participated in a rally or march held on the immigration issue in the last three weeks — either someone in their family (6 pct.), one of their close friends (9 pct.), or they themselves (9 pct.). Extrapolating that figure onto the Latino electorate nationwide translates into an impressive 2.5 million people.

— Among Latino voters who participated in a rally or march or know someone who did, 63 pct. have a favorable impression of the political actions.

METHODOLOGY

Lake Research Partners designed and administered this survey, which was conducted by phone using professional interviewers. The survey reached 1,000 Latino adults in the 23 states with the highest Latino population density, including 800 Latino registered voters. The states include: CA, TX, FL, NY, IL, AZ, NJ, NM, CO, GA, NV, NC, WA, MA, VA, PA, CT, MI, OR, MD, IN, OH, and WI. The survey was conducted April 20-26, 2006. Telephone numbers for the survey were drawn from files of registered voters (in the case of the registered voter sample) and random digit dial sample (in the case of the non-registered adult sample). The data were weighted slightly by gender, age, education, and country of birth in order to ensure that it accurately reflects the demographic configuration of these populations. The margin of error for the survey is plus/minus 3.2 pct.