Most Americans Want Illegal Immigration Stopped

Since 08-16-06

By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Staff Writer

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200608/NAT20060811a.html

August 11, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Most Americans want the government to stop illegal entry into the country before discussing what to do about the estimated 12 million people already living in the U.S. illegally, according to a poll released Friday by a conservative grassroots organization.

The findings are "exactly contradictory to what the president said," according to Steve Elliott, president of Grassfire.org. "He insisted that we have to have a comprehensive solution that would cover border security and amnesty and guest worker programs."

The poll of more than 1,400 Americans conducted Aug. 1-3 found that 73 percent of respondents view the illegal immigration situation as a "serious problem," and 81 percent want the government to secure the borders before deciding what to do about illegal aliens already in the U.S.

Similarly, a May 2006 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll found that 86 percent of Americans view illegal immigration as either "very serious" or "somewhat serious."

Grassfire.org identifies itself as a "conservative, pro-family and pro-faith" organization of "hundreds of thousands of citizens." The group encourages its members to join online petitions to "make a difference in our nation."

Elliott told Cybercast News Service that his group "support[s] legal immigration and, like most Americans, we want the borders secured and we don't support [President Bush's] amnesty plan."

Elliott said Americans view illegal immigration as a serious problem "because of the terrorist threat, the security threat to our country." He accused supporters of illegal immigration of ignoring that threat.

As Cybercast News Service previously reported, illegal aliens of Middle Eastern descent have been able to blend into Mexican culture and pass into the United States while pretending to be Mexican.

"Americans recognize that porous borders are a threat to our national security, and they want that solved as a top national security priority," Elliott said.

But Laura Reiff, co-chair of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, believes the national security risk from illegal immigration is minimal.

"The vast majority of the undocumented here are from CAFTA/NAFTA (Central and North American Free Trade Agreement) countries, mostly Mexico. I would say one in a million has any connection whatsoever to terrorism, if even that," she told Cybercast News Service.

"But," Reiff added, "we do need to find out who's here, who is amongst us, and that is the argument we use in the national security area for developing a program for finding out who the undocumented are."

"Everyone can agree," she added, that there is a serious problem from illegal immigration. But, Reiff argued, the only way to fix the problem is for the government to offer an easier way to enter the country legally simultaneous to any crackdown on illegal entry.

"You're deluding yourself to say that you're going to fix the problem by securing the border, because the border will never be secured," Reiff said. "The only way to fix the problem of undocumented coming into this country and with the current undocumented population is to do everything at the same time ... in one comprehensive bill."

The Grassfire.org poll did not ask respondents how they would deal with illegal aliens after securing the border, but a June 12 NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that 50 percent of Americans favor a plan similar to the Senate bill that would build a 370-mile fence along the border with Mexico and grant amnesty to illegal aliens who have been in the United States for more than two years.

In the NBC poll, one third of respondents favored the House plan, which calls for a 700-mile fence along the Mexican border and would deport aliens who are already in the United States illegally.