The complexities of this immigrant issue
Catholic Spirit, May 2006, In Our World
By Patricia Zapor
Catholic News Service
Amid the enthusiastic rallies and dueling politicians' rhetoric about immigration of the last few weeks, recent demographic analyses and opinion polls put the debate into numerical perspective.
Among the conclusions drawn from the data are that the nation's illegal immigrants include many families in complex situations, and that the opinions of Americans on the subject don't line up easily into neat rows.
Some of the demographic information may surprise people who think the illegal immigrant population consists largely of single young men.
About 36 percent, or 2.3 million, of the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants are single men with no children; another 12 percent, or 740,000, are single women with no children. About 540,000, or 9 percent, are couples without kids. According to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of census data, the other 41 percent or so break down into an assortment of "mixed status" families where parents aren't here legally.
Those "mixed status" categories include 1.5 million families where all the children are U.S. citizens, but at least one parent is in the country illegally; 630,000 families where all the children are also here without legal papers; and 460,000 families in which some minor children are U.S. citizens and others are not.
Among Mexicans, who make up about half the illegal immigrant population, 48 percent are married or have a common-law spouse; more than two-thirds of that percentage live with their spouses in this country. The Pew report noted that about one-third of illegal Mexican immigrants with families have left all their children in Mexico.
Pew also concluded that those 1.5 million children — who, like their parents, are here illegally — are vastly outnumbered by more than 3 million children who are U.S. citizens with parents who lack the proper paperwork.
To be sure, there is a large population of unattached men, according to Pew, particularly among those who have arrived since 2000. Slightly more than half — 53 percent of the 4.4 million people who arrived between 2000 and 2005 — were unmarried, compared to about 45 percent of those who came to the United States before 2000.
The study was based on census data through 2005.
As Congress struggles to pass an immigration bill, what has been more widely reported than such demographic information are opinion polls about the problems with immigration and how they can best be fixed.
A poll of 800 likely voters nationwide conducted March 20-22 by the Tarrance Group and Lake Research Partners for the National Immigration Forum and the American Immigration Lawyers Association found that 75 percent favored an immigration proposal that included a plan to admit more temporary workers. The plan would allow people already in the country to register and legalize their status without giving them priority over legal immigrants, would emphasize reuniting families and would penalize workers and employers who violate laws.
That combination of provisions mirrors the key elements supported by a wide range of organizations including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, major unions including the Service Employees International Union, the National Council of La Raza and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
A poll by Time magazine of 1,004 adults conducted March 29-30 showed similar support for specific components of that plan.
It found that 78 percent support allowing illegal immigrants to legalize their status and eventually seek U.S. citizenship if they learn English, have jobs and pay taxes.
A Gallup/USA Today poll conducted April 7-9 of 1,004 adults found 63 percent support allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the country under certain circumstances, while another 17 percent said they should be able to stay for a limited time.
At the same time, all three polls found people strongly believe the U.S. government is not doing enough to stop illegal immigration and they want better enforcement at the border.
In the Time poll, 82 percent said the government doesn't do enough to control illegal immigration. The Gallup poll had 81 percent agreeing that "illegal immigration to the United States is out of control."
The Tarrance Group found 90 percent agreed with the statement "the immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed."
Opinions about how to prevent illegal immigration were somewhat less cohesive.
In Gallup's opinion poll, 84 percent said instituting tough penalties for companies that employ illegal immigrants would be somewhat or very effective. Time's survey found 71 percent favored enforcing penalties against employers.
The notion of building a wall along the Mexican border has been fairly roundly rejected by most people in the polls. A version of legislation passed by the House in December calls for building a wall along 700 miles of the 2,000 mile border.
Gallup found 48 percent think a wall would be at least somewhat effective. In the Time poll, 56 percent said they'd favor building a security fence. An Associated Press poll taken March 28-30 by Ipsos Public Affairs found 32 percent of the 1,003 adults surveyed were at least somewhat confident that a border fence would reduce the number of illegal immigrants.
And on questions about deporting people who are in the country illegally, three polls give a clue about what people think.
Time found 47 percent support deporting all illegal immigrants. The Tarrance poll found that 79 percent think deporting all illegal immigrants currently in the country is unrealistic. Gallup's poll found 18 percent said all illegal immigrants should be deported.