Opinion: Poll Data on Immigration on the Way

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President Bush’s luncheon stop on Capitol Hill today to prod deeply skeptical Republicans to accept his vision for rewriting immigration policy may not result in one of his more enjoyable meals. But he may find some solace later from the results of a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll on the issue.

We can’t reveal the precise numbers quite yet; for that, check our website in a few hours and the print edition on Wednesday. But when more than 1,000 Americans were asked if they favored a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants under the conditions laid out in the bill languishing in Congress, the numbers bolster the arguments of Bush and others that the majority view is on their side. Indeed, the findings are quite comparable to a recent New York Times poll on the subject.

The poll does not, however, grapple with the question of whether the citizenship plan should be considered amnesty and, if defined by that term, if it is still supported. Also, the poll’s findings are more mixed on another key provision Bush is pushing: establishment of a guest worker program.

— Don Frederick