THE FIELD POLL THE INDEPENDENT AND NON-PARTISAN SURVEY OF PUBLIC OPINION ESTABLISHED IN 1947 AS THE CALIFORNIA POLL BY MERVIN FIELD Field Research Corporation 601 California Street, Suite 900 San Francisco, CA 94108-2814 (415) 392-5763 FAX: (415) 434-2541 EMAIL: fieldpoll@field.com www.field.com/fieldpollonline Release #2439 Release Date: Friday, February 22, 2013 NEAR-UNIVERSAL SUPPORT FOR ALLOWING LONG-TIME UNDOCUMENTED RESIDENTS TO STAY AND BECOME CITIZENS UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS. MAJORITY ALSO BACKS GRANTING CALIFORNIA DRIVER'S LICENSES TO THESE RESIDENTS. By Mark DiCamillo and Mervin Field IMPORTANT: Contract for this service is subject to revocation if publication or broadcast takes place before release date or if contents are divulged to persons outside of subscriber staff prior to release time. (ISSN 0195-4520) There is now nearly universal support among California voters to allow undocumented immigrants who have lived here for a number of years to stay and become citizens if they have a job, learn English, and pay back taxes. Statewide, 90% of voters now favor this policy. In addition, in a reversal from previous measures, a 52% to 43% majority favors allowing undocumented residents to obtain California drivers licenses. In two previous Field Polls dating back to 2005, majorities opposed this idea. Greater than seven in ten also support significantly increasing the number of visas granted to immigrants who are engineers or hold other advanced degrees, creating temporary worker programs for current and future undocumented workers, and allowing undocumented students to pay the same in-state tuition fees at the state's public universities as other residents. At the same time, voters are disinclined to relax some of the policies in place aimed at restricting the flow of undocumented immigrants into this country. There continues to be strong majority support for increasing the number of federal border agents patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as for imposing stiff penalties on employers and individuals who hire illegal immigrants. These are the highlights of the latest Field Poll on immigration issues conducted this month among a representative cross-section of California voters. Field Research Corporation is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer
Friday, February 22, 2013 Page 2 Near universal support for allowing long-time undocumented residents to stay and become citizens under certain conditions Very large majorities of California voters now support enacting more permissive policies toward immigrants who have entered the country illegally. Nine in ten voters (90%) support allowing longtime undocumented residents to stay and be permitted to apply for citizenship if they have a job, learn English, and pay back taxes. This is the highest level of support for this proposal since the Field Poll began tracking this issue seven years ago. In addition, an increasing majority (76%) supports creating temporary worker programs for undocumented immigrants that would legalize their status and allow future immigrants to work here. The poll also finds broad-based support (73%) for significantly increasing the number of visas granted to immigrants who are engineers or hold other advanced degrees. Table 1 Trend of voter opinion of proposals aimed at liberalizing the country s immigration policies Create a program that would allow illegal immigrants who have been living in the U.S. for a number of years an opportunity to stay in this country and apply for citizenship if they have a job, learned English and paid back taxes Favor Oppose No opinion February 2013 90% 8 2 March 2007 83% 14 3 July 2006 80% 16 4 April 2006 75% 21 4 Create temporary worker programs for illegal immigrants that would legalize their status and allow future immigrants to work in this country February 2013 76% 18 6 March 2007 67% 28 5 April 2006 60% 34 6 Significantly increase the number of visas issued to immigrants who are engineers or hold other advanced degrees February 2013 73% 23 4
Friday, February 22, 2013 Page 3 Continuing majority support for two measures aimed at restricting the flow of illegal immigrants into U.S. At the same time, majorities of voters continue to back two policies aimed at restricting the flow of new illegal immigrants into this country. Two in three (65%) favor increasing the number of federal border agents patrolling the U.S. Mexico border. In addition, nearly six in ten (57%) support imposing stiff penalties on employers and individuals who hire illegal immigrants. Voters are more divided on two other border control policies. While 46% favor building more fences along major sections of the U. S. Mexico border, 47% are opposed. Similarly, while 46% support continuing the policy of having federal immigration agents round up, detain and deport immigrants found to be living her illegally, 43% are opposed. Table 2 Trend of voter opinion of proposals aimed at restricting the flow of illegal immigrants into this country Favor Oppose No opinion Increase the number of federal border agents patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border February 2013 65% 27 8 March 2007 71% 25 4 July 2006 71% 26 3 Impose stiff penalties on employers and individuals who hire illegal immigrants February 2013 57% 39 4 March 2007 63% 31 6 July 2006 60% 35 5 April 2006 60% 34 6 Continue the policy of having federal immigration agents round up, detain and deport immigrants found to be living here illegally February 2013 46% 43 11 March 2007 53% 40 7 Build more fences along major sections of the U.S.-Mexico border February 2013 46% 47 7 March 2007 37% 59 4 April 2006 47% 48 5
Friday, February 22, 2013 Page 4 Comparing the views of white non-hispanic and Latino voters There is general consensus among large majorities of white non-hispanics and Latinos to allow long-time undocumented residents to stay and be permitted to apply for citizenship if they have a job, learn English, and pay back taxes. In addition, both groups back the idea of establishing temporary worker programs for undocumented workers that would legalize their status and allow future immigrants to work in this country. Seven in ten white non-hispanics and greater than eight in ten Latinos favor significantly increasing the number of visas issues to immigrants who are engineers or hold advanced degrees. Table 3 Proportions in favor of proposals to liberalizing the country s immigration policies by racial/ethnic subgroup % Favor White non- Total Hispanics Latinos % % % Create a program that would allow illegal immigrants who have been living in the U.S. for a number of years an opportunity to stay in this country and apply for citizenship if they have a job, learned English and paid back taxes 90 89 95 Create temporary worker programs for illegal immigrants that would legalize their status and allow future immigrants to work in this country 76 68 93 Significantly increase the number of visas issued to immigrants who are engineers or hold other advanced degrees 73 70 85 Majorities of white non-hispanics and Latinos also concur with the policy of increasing the number of federal border agents patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border. On the other hand, there are big differences in the opinions of white non-hispanics and Latinos on two other measures aimed at restricting the flow of new illegal immigrants into this country. While majorities of white non-hispanics favor imposing stiff penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants and continuing the policy of having federal immigration agents rounding up and deporting illegals, fewer than one in three Latinos agree with these policies.
Friday, February 22, 2013 Page 5 Table 4 Proportions in favor of proposals aimed at restricting the flow of illegal immigrants into this country by racial/ethnic subgroup % Favor White non- Total Hispanics Latinos % % % Increase the number of federal border agents patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border Impose stiff penalties on employers and individuals who hire illegal immigrants Continue the policy of having federal immigration agents round up, detain and deport immigrants found to be living here illegally Build more fences along major sections of the U.S.-Mexico border 65 68 56 57 65 32 46 54 24 46 47 38 Majority support for allowing undocumented workers to obtain California driver s licenses In a reversal from previous measures, a 52% to 43% majority of California voters now agrees that undocumented immigrants living here should be allowed to get a driver s license. However, there are big partisan and ethnic differences on this issue. While Democrats favor this idea by a greater than two to one margin, Republicans are opposed by more than two to one. In addition, white non Hispanics are opposed to granting driver s licenses to undocumented immigrants 55% to 41%, while majorities of ethnic voters, especially Latinos, are supportive.
Friday, February 22, 2013 Page 6 Table 5 Do you agree or disagree that illegal or undocumented immigrants currently living in California should be allowed to get California driver's licenses overall and across voter subgroups No Agree Disagree opinion February 2013 52% 43 5 September 2012 40% 56 4 February 2005 35% 62 3 Party registration (February 2013) Democrats 66% 29 5 Republicans 27% 71 2 No party preference/others 58% 36 6 Race/ethnicity (February 2013) White non-hispanic 41% 55 4 Latino 78% 19 3 African American/Asian American/other 57% 35 8 Allow undocumented students to pay the same in-state tuition fees at the state s public universities as other residents A solid 60% to 36% majority of California voters agree that undocumented students should be allowed to pay the same in-state tuition fees as other residents to attend the state s public universities. Democrats are very much in favor of this proposal 71% to 25% and independent voters are also supportive 60% to 33%. On the other hand, Republicans are narrowly opposed 53% to 45%. White non-hispanic voters are divided on this issue, with 50% in favor and 46% against. By contrast, Latinos are overwhelmingly in favor, 87% to 11%, while other ethnic voters are supportive nearly two to one.
Friday, February 22, 2013 Page 7 Table 6 Do you agree or disagree that illegal or undocumented immigrants living in California should be allowed to pay the same amount to attend California s public universities as the state s legal residents overall and across voter subgroups No Agree Disagree opinion February 2013 60% 36 4 Party registration Democrats 71% 25 4 Republicans 45% 53 2 No party preference/others 60% 33 7 Race/ethnicity White non-hispanic 50% 46 4 Latino 87% 11 2 African American/Asian American/other 60% 35 5 30
Friday, February 22, 2013 Page 8 Methodological Details Information About The Survey The latest Field Poll was completed February 5-17, 2013 among 834 registered voters in California. In order to cover a broad range of issues and still minimize voter fatigue, some of the questions in this report were asked of a random subsample of 415 registered voters. Interviewing was conducted by telephone in English and Spanish using live interviewers working from Field Research Corporation s central location telephone interviewing facilities. Up to six attempts were made to reach, screen and interview each randomly selected voter on different days and times of day during the interviewing period. Interviewing was completed on either a voter s landline phone or a cell phone depending on the source of the telephone listing from the voter file. After the completion of interviewing, the overall registered voter sample was weighted to Field Poll estimates of the characteristics of the overall registered voter population in California. Sampling error estimates applicable to the results of any probability-based survey depend on sample size as well as the percentage distribution being examined. The maximum sampling error estimates for results based on the overall sample of 834 registered voters have a sampling error of +/- 3.5 percentage points, while findings from the random subsample of 415 voters have a sampling error of +/- 5.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The maximum sampling error is based on results in the middle of the sampling distribution (i.e., percentages at or near 50%). Percentages at either end of the distribution (those closer to 10% or 90%) have a smaller margin of error. There are other potential sources of error in surveys besides sampling error. However, the overall design and execution of the survey sought to minimize these other possible sources of error. The Field Poll was established in 1947 as The California Poll by Mervin Field, who is still an active advisor. The Poll has operated continuously since then as an independent, non-partisan survey of California public opinion. The Poll receives annual funding from media subscribers of The Field Poll, from several California foundations, and the University of California and California State University systems, who receive the data files from each Field Poll survey shortly after its completion for teaching and secondary research purposes. Questions Asked I am going to read some proposals that have been made relating to the illegal immigration situation, and for each please tell me whether you favor or oppose this policy. (ITEMS READ IN RANDOM ORDER) Do you favor or oppose this policy?* (SEE TABLES 1 AND 2 FOR ITEMS READ) Please tell me whether you agree or disagree with the following statements about illegal or undocumented workers currently living in California. (ITEMS READ IN RANDOM ORDER) Do you agree or disagree that they should be allowed to (ITEM)? (SEE TABLES 5 AND 6 FOR ITEMS READ) * Question asked of a random subsample of 415 registered voters statewide