Conservatives Out In The Cold On Immigration

1:13 am EST April 19th, 2007 | Politics | 7 Comments

In 2006 the issue of immigration was supposed to rouse the Republican faithful to hold off the Democratic wave, in fact it probably led to increased Hispanic support of Democratic candidates because of Republican xenophobia. Again, immigration is being touted as a killer issue for 2008 and to look at the conservative media you would think that support for the conservative side of the issue was lopsided.

But it looks like its lopsided the other way.

A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken last weekend found that 78% of respondents feel people now in the country illegally should be given a chance at citizenship.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is drafting legislation to grant illegal immigrants an opportunity to stay in the USA, said: “As with so many issues, the American people are ahead of Washington on immigration reform. They know that only a plan that offers a path to earned citizenship will fix our broken system.”

Is this yet another case of the conservative media creating a world view they purport to be a majority but is in fact only reflective of the fringe? (ie Schiavo, Iraq, Katrina)

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7 Responses to “Conservatives Out In The Cold On Immigration”

  1. Hedley says:
    April 19, 2007 at 3:02 am

    So roughly 78% of the population favors immigration reform and thus, the public is right and conservatives are wrong. But about 78% of the population also supports a ban on partial birth abortion and yet the public is wrong and liberals are right.

    Makes perfect sense.

  2. Oliver Willis says:
    April 19, 2007 at 3:07 am

    Except most of us support some kind of ban if there’s a health exception for the life of the mother.

  3. Anonymous says:
    April 19, 2007 at 3:20 am

    What a coincidence. Congress does too since such a health exception does exist in the Act despite the pro-abortion hysterics.

  4. pedromd07 says:
    April 19, 2007 at 9:49 am

    hell I agree with it.

    Those folks should be able to become citizens, once they leave this place and line up at the embassy in whatever country they are from and apply like any good future american.

  5. Rounds77 says:
    April 19, 2007 at 10:46 am

    Pedro, for once I agree with you.

  6. Meet the Dem Quislings says:
    April 19, 2007 at 2:29 pm

    I don’t come here expecting intellectual honesty, but isn’t there the possibility that the poll question was biased?

    And, did they ask a follow-up question of those who said “yes” to the question whether they still support legalization knowing that it will inevitably lead to even more IllegalImmigration, MassiveChainMigration, more PoliticalPower for the MexicanGovernment inside the U.S., and so on.

  7. VRWC drone says:
    April 19, 2007 at 2:48 pm

    Because O-Dub can’t seem to ever take his “All Conservatives are Evil” glasses off, he chooses to ignore the fact that many (if not most) conservatives are actually strong supporters of legal immigration. It’s the illegal immigration they have legitimate concerns about. Questions like “How has unchecked illegal immigration negative impacted our healthcare system, our education system, our social services, etc.” are ones that progressives like O-Dub apparently don’t want to address because then it becomes hard to paint conservatives as the bad guys.

    I personally support people already here illegally having a path to citizenship. But it should also include them having to return to their own country and apply there in-person, out of basic fairness to their countrymen and women who also want to become American citizens but are following the rules and doing it legally.

    By the way, I noticed that poll you quoted didn’t give any details other than a simple “78% of respondents feel people now in the country illegally should be given a chance at citizenship”. So we don’t know what the specific questions were or how they broke down. We have seen from numerous previous polls that the majority of Americans can support a path to citizenship while simultaneously supporting more enforcement (both in the workplace and on the border) and having concerns at the lack of assimilation they see occurring.

    It would be nice if you were to someday have an open and honest discussion of all sides of this issue without trying to once again turn it into a “conservatives just hate brown people” slam. But apparently that’s too much to ask.