Negatives Cited in Times Poll on Immigrants

A majority of Americans continue to view immigrants as a negative economic force that contributes little to American culture, despite two years of unprecedented attention during the government’s amnesty and employer sanctions programs.

A Los Angeles Times Poll shows that attitudes toward immigrants, which have historically tended to be unwelcoming, remain virtually unchanged. Experts, government officials and immigrant advocates expressed disappointment that immigration reforms have failed to alter that image.

“A lot of our old prejudices are still at work,” said Maurice A. Roberts, editor of Interpreter Releases, a Washington-based national immigration journal.

And despite extensive publicity about the programs, a large segment of the population remains unaware of the government’s efforts. But among those familiar with the changes in the 1986 reform law, the public generally approves the legalization of about 2 million immigrants while giving low marks to the early effectiveness of employer sanctions.

A significant segment of the population also appears to oppose evolving efforts in Congress to change the flow of immigration patterns from Latin America and Asia to European nations.

Conclusion of Program

The Times Poll was conducted four months after the conclusion of the one-year legalization program and two months after the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service began full enforcement of sanctions against employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. The Times Poll, directed by I. A. Lewis, conducted a nationwide telephone survey of 1,418 respondents last weekend. The margin of error was 4 percentage points in either direction.

Asked whether immigrants get more from the U.S economy through social services and unemployment benefits or contribute more through taxes and work, 64% said that immigrants take more than they give. Only 19% replied that immigrants contributed more, while 4% said immigrants benefitted and contributed equally to the economy.

In answers to the same question about the economy posed in a 1983 Times Poll of Californians, 62% said that immigrants benefit more from the economy. When isolating California and five other states with high immigrant populations from the rest of the nation, the results showed little variation from the national totals.

When poll figures were broken down by age, education, employment and gender, results also showed little difference. But although Latino respondents were too few in number to make definitive conclusions about their answers, they did appear to have a stronger awareness and approval of amnesty than the general population.

Cultural Effects

Asked whether immigrants have made a contribution in the last decade to American culture, 46% said no, while 40% said immigrants have enriched our culture. Those results appeared less favorable to immigrants compared to a 1985 Time magazine survey which found that 51% of American respondents believed that immigrants have enriched our culture.

Mario Moreno, an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Washington, suggested that the American public identifies immigrants “with the urban poor and (their) use of public benefits. . . . But in reality, immigrants stay away from the government and assistance programs.”

Pointing to recent academic and research institute studies, a number of experts have argued that there is little factual justification for widespread public opinion that immigrants are a drain on the economy. For instance, a 1986 report from the Reagan Administration’s Council of Economic Advisers indicated a significant aggregate contribution from immigrants, and the Washington-based Urban Institute concluded that immigrants paid more in taxes than they took in government services. Supporters of tight immigration controls insist otherwise, claiming that immigrants take jobs away from Americans.

Although disappointed, most experts and officials said that the poll results were not unexpected--reflecting a historic strain of anti-immigrant opinions in a country of immigrants.

“It seems to me that these are not terribly surprising findings,” said Charles Kamasaki of the National Council of La Raza, a Washington-based Latino rights organization. “The fact is that the country tends to have unwelcoming attitudes, but at the same time they’re ambivalent because of their own immigrant backgrounds.”

Many Still Unaware

He pointed to results from a third Times Poll question, which showed that Americans generally approved of the government’s nationwide amnesty program by a 31% to 22% ratio--although 42% of the respondents said they were unaware of the program.

Kamasaki and others said that the public’s continuing anti-immigrant attitudes appear to be in conflict with their approval of amnesty. Poll results before the passage of the 1986 immigration law had indicated a majority of the public opposed granting amnesty to illegal aliens.

“I can’t help but think that it had something to do with the positive publicity, the stories about people legalizing, people working hard and getting their papers,” said Doris Meissner, former INS acting commissioner and member of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “I think that must have affected attitudes.”

Yet despite the steady stream of favorable images, government officials and others were taken aback by the Times Poll’s showing of high public unawareness of immigration reform programs.

“I think the poll must have been taken on the moon,” said Harold Ezell, Commissioner for the INS’ Western Region. “If (the public is) that uninformed about the most major change in our immigration law in the last 30-plus years, then I don’t know where they’ve been.”

Impact of Sanctions

The Times Poll also showed a high ignorance--32% of those polled--of the government’s sanctions against employers, while indicating that 41% of the American public felt that the program has not cut back on the number of illegal immigrants coming into the United States. Another 13% said that the sanctions were working.

Experts say because full enforcement of the sanctions started just two months ago, it is too early to get a realistic reading of the law’s impact. Although anyone applying for a new job must comply with new INS rules, few have felt its effects thus far. “This starts to come home when they look for another job, but it’s a long-term process,” said Carnegie’s Meissner.

Ezell contended that polls taken after next December, when the last phase of sanctions come into effect against farmers, would reflect higher awareness and approval.

Another poll question, which looked at public attitudes toward future immigration policy, contained the most surprising results. Half of those questioned indicated that they would not support a policy that encouraged more immigration from European countries instead of from Asian and Latin American countries. Another 30% supported higher European immigration.

Several major proposals have recently been drafted in Congress to revise policies toward legal immigration, which--since the 1960s--have brought in more immigrants from Asian and Latin American countries than from European nations. The Senate has already passed a bill sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.), which would encourage more European immigration.

While some immigrant advocates welcomed the poll results as a positive trend, many others interpreted the response as general public opposition to more immigration from any country.

“It indicates the public is comfortable with diversity,” said Rick Swartz, president of the National Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Forum, a pro-immigrant group.

Said Meissner: “Given the answers to the other (poll) questions, that result is probably saying that Americans don’t want immigrants from anywhere.”

ATTITUDES ON IMMIGRATION

These figures reflect Los Angeles Times Poll responses to a telephone survey of 1,418 residents nationwide between Sept. 9 and Sept. 11. The figures do not total 100%. Among the questions:

Generally speaking, do you think immigrants get more from the United States economy through social services and unemployment or do they contribute more to the U.S. economy through taxes and productivity?

Takes 64%

Contributes 19%

Generally speaking, would you agree that immigrants in the past 10 years have made a contribution to our country by enriching our culture, or disagree?

Agree 40%

Disagree 46%

Would you agree with an immigration policy that encourages immigration from European countries over immigration from Asian and Latin American countries, or disagree?

Agree 30%

Disagree 50%

The 1986 immigration law granted amnesty to about 2 million undocumented aliens and set up sanctions against employers who knowingly hired them. From what you have seen or heard, would you say that this law has cut back on the number of illegal immigrants coming into the United States, or not--or haven’t you heard enough about that yet to say?

Unaware 32%

Cut 13%

Not Cut 41%

Generally speaking, do you approve or disapprove of this amnesty program--or haven’t you heard enough about it yet to say?

Unaware 42%

Approve 31%

Disapprove 22%