Poll Shows Support for Immigration Limits : Opinion: The survey also reveals that Californians are the strongest supporters of curbing the influx.

A majority of Americans think the nation is allowing too many immigrants to enter the country and favors a freeze on new arrivals until immigration policies can be revised, according to a poll released Tuesday by a group that advocates stricter controls.

The survey, conducted for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, indicates that Californians harbor more negative attitudes about immigration than the country as a whole. Of Californians surveyed, 78% agreed that immigration has become a financial burden, and nearly 70% said the state already has too many people.

FAIR, which has long advocated tighter restrictions on immigration, for the first time called for a temporary moratorium.

“Our schools, housing, employment, living standards and deteriorating infrastructure demand a short pause,” said executive director Dan Stein, whose group opened an office in San Diego this year. FAIR’s annual meeting in San Diego last weekend included a tour of the border and a speech by INS Commissioner Gene McNary.

The poll, conducted in March and April by the Roper Organization, shows that, even before last month’s riots in Los Angeles, public anxiety was growing about the record influx of immigrants into the country.

Critics of FAIR, including the AFL-CIO, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Jewish Committee and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the organization relies on “code words, innuendo and distortions” to blame “virtually every social and economic problem” on immigrants.

Representatives of migrant advocate groups also held a press conference in San Diego to respond. Roberto Martinez of the American Friends Service Committee said he does not believe that anti-immigrant attitudes are as strong as the poll indicates.

But he said economic hard times have increased such sentiments among Californians and in the border area in particular.

“That has historically been the case in California,” he said. “We are seeing history repeat itself. There is a fear and a xenophobic atmosphere.”

In a written statement concerning the riots in Los Angeles, representatives of the Jewish committee and the Mexican American fund in Washington, said: “We must unequivocally denounce any attempt to scapegoat any ethnic or racial group for the unrest in Los Angeles and other cities.”

The Roper poll shows that 86% of Americans regard immigration as a very important or moderately important national issue; only 4% said it was “not at all” important.

Sixty percent of those polled said they were more concerned about immigration today than they were 10 years ago. The level of concern was higher among state residents and the elderly: 72% for Californians and 69% among people 60 years and older.

The report notes that a separate Gallup Poll conducted in February showed that 61% of Americans believe that immigrant diversity makes a positive contribution to the country.

But the Roper survey shows that 54% of Americans--up from 48% two years ago--think too many immigrants are allowed into the country. Again, Californians, at 63%, expressed more concern than the overall sample.

Stein, the FAIR executive director, framed his arguments for immigration reform in terms of population growth, and at one point broke out a metronome to demonstrate the rapid rate at which the world’s population is expanding.

Against a background of insistent electronic beeps, Stein said: “The United States is sending signals around the world that we will accept migration” from less developed nations. But most of these people, Stein said, “should bloom where planted.”

FAIR has previously supported a cap of 300,000 immigrants annually. But, bolstered by the new survey showing, Stein said the group is now calling for a freeze that would last at least three years. Spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens would be exempt from the moratorium.

The survey showed that 55% of the overall sample and 52% of Californians backed the moratorium idea.

Harry O’Neill, the Roper vice chairman who presented the poll findings, said the responses did not vary significantly by ethnic group. “The overall responses were on a par with black and Hispanic groups,” O’Neill said.

Other surveys have produced similar findings.

John Brennan, director of the Los Angeles Times Poll, said his surveys of Californians have revealed “some very negative attitudes toward immigrants.” In a December, 1991, Times Poll, for example, 66% of respondents said immigrants were a burden to the state economy, and only 9% considered them a benefit.

“But it’s not clear that immigration is a top-of-mind concern for much of California’s population,” Brennan said.

That same 1991 survey asked Californians to volunteer the most important problems facing the state. By far, the top-mentioned items were the economy and jobs, mentioned by a total of 35%. Crime was cited by 8% and education by 7%. Only 4% cited immigration.

“In that same poll,” Brennan said, “we asked the sample to pick the culprits in the state’s growing budget mess. Twenty-nine percent mentioned the Legislature and 20% Gov. Pete Wilson. Illegal immigrants were cited by 4%.”