Looks like a vast majority of Americans favor preserving the American dream.
A new LA Times/Bloomberg poll shows that two-thirds of Americans support giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, assuming they have no criminal record, pay a fine, pay taxes, learn English, and meet other requirements. Those numbers cut across party lines — roughly two-thirds of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans feel this way.
The immigration bill is dead for now, but these findings bolster the president’s claim that the conservatives who opposed it because its amnesty clauses were too lenient on illegal immigrants were nothing more than a very vocal minority far detached from America’s mainstream. The population at large apparently feels like Barbara Ehrenreich.
One last note: only 34 percent of Americans favor the much-maligned point system for distributing visas that would weigh professional qualifications and command of English more heavily than having family already in the States.
