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Poll: U.S. ineffective on immigration
By UPI Staff
United Press International
April 4, 2006

NEW YORK (UPI) -- The U.S. government is not doing enough to curb illegal immigration, 81 percent of respondents said in a Time magazine poll published Monday.

The telephone poll of 1,004 U.S. adults conducted last week also showed 75 percent would deny illegal immigrants government services such as healthcare and food stamps, and 51 percent said children who are in the United States illegally shouldn't be allowed to attend public schools.

Yet there was a less harsh attitude when it came to expulsions, with 78 percent favoring allowing citizenship for those who are already in the country if they have a job, speak English and pay taxes, the Time poll found.

The issue is being debated in the U.S. Congress, with the Senate Judiciary Committee favoring a measure far more open to immigration than the House of Representatives' version.

Business interests don't want to disrupt a steady supply of cheap labor for the agriculture, construction, hotel and restaurant industries, while social conservatives argue that illegal immigration has begun an uncontrolled demographic and cultural transformation of the country, and is threatening its values.

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