Seven in 10 California voters want more border patrols

By PETER HECHT
Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Seven in 10 California voters want to see more federal agents patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border, and nearly two-thirds advocate stiff penalties against employers hiring illegal immigrants.

Yet by increasing numbers, voters believe building a wall on the border is a bad idea, according to a Field Poll released this week.

By a 59 percent to 37 percent margin, voters oppose a plan to build a wall along major sections of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Field Poll survey of 570 registered California voters, conducted between March 20-31, reflects a sharp change in attitudes on a border wall. In a Field Poll last year, voters were split _ with 47 percent favoring a border wall and 48 percent opposed.

Congress last year passed the Secure Fence Act authorizing construction of 700 miles of reinforced fencing along sections of the U.S.-Mexico border. But the construction plan _ never signed into law _ has since drawn criticism as either too expensive or as an ineffective remedy to illegal immigration.

"As a wall becomes closer to a reality, it is sinking in that there might be some negative repercussions," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll. "I think voters have more misgivings about it now."

In California, 56 percent of Republican voters still support a border wall _ a plan conceived when Congress was held by the GOP. However, only 27 percent of state Democrats and 26 percent of independent voters support the idea, according to the poll.

But 71 percent of California voters said they want more U.S. Border Patrol Agents, and 63 percent said they favor penalizing employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority - 83 percent - said they believe illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the United States and apply for citizenship if they are employed, speak English and pay back taxes.

Another 67 percent of California voters said they support temporary worker programs that would allow many current illegal immigrants to seek a means to work legally.

"I believe the people who are coming up here illegally are coming to work," said one of the Field Poll respondents, John Steck, a heavy-equipment construction supervisor in Galt. "I really feel the problem is overblown. ... It's not the illegal immigrants who are the problem. It's the employers who hire them."

But of voters surveyed in the Field Poll, 49 percent said they considered illegal immigration to be a "very serious" problem in California, compared to 28 percent who said the issue was "somewhat serious" and 22 percent who described illegal immigration as "not serious."

Voters such as William Yaklich, a retiree from Yuba City, may favor giving illegal immigrants temporary work status or a path to citizenship. But they want illegal immigrant brought under control.

"I think allowing temporary worker status is good. We have too many people who won't do the work they do," said Yaklich, one of the poll respondents. "But I am certainly against the way it is now where they (illegal immigrants) are just coming in in droves. They are just making it difficult for everyone."

Some 68 percent of Republicans said they consider illegal immigration to be "very serious," compared to 40 percent of Democrats and 35 percent of non-partisan voters.

"I don't believe we should pay for health care, short-term or long-term, for illegal immigrants," said Patricia Morford, a Republican voter in Sacramento County. "I don't think we should pay for their education."

Morford said she has a sister-in-law who immigrated legally from Colombia. Meanwhile, she favors a border fence to stop the stream of illegal border crossers in Southern California, where her brother and sister-in-law live.

According to the Field Poll, attitudes on illegal immigration are sharpest in Southern California regions excluding Los Angeles County. Some 47 percent of Los Angeles voters viewed illegal immigration as "very serious." The number jumped to 58 percent in other Southern California counties - including those closer to the border.

"Certainly, the issue is viewed more directly in terms of people's day-to-day lives the closer you get to the border," DiCamillo said. "When you look at policies to control the number of immigrants coming into the U.S., there is strong support in areas closest to the border for tougher enforcement."

(Contact Peter Hecht at phecht(at)sacbee.com.)