Poll: Americans support guest worker program by a 69-27 percent margin

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=3630

By a 69-27 percent margin, American voters say illegal immigrants should be allowed into a guest worker program with the ability to work toward citizenship over a period of several years, according to a national poll by Quinnipiac University, a private university in Hamden, Conn.

Republicans support the guest worker to citizenship path 66-31 percent, while Democrats back it 73-23 percent and independent voters back it 71-24 percent, the independent Quinnipiac University poll finds.

[Nozebro]

1. I don't know how the question was framed & who was polled, but most

Americans who are knowledgeable about the effects on costs to society of overpopulation, would almost certainly favor making sure more Americans have a higher standard of living before taking action (or not taking action) that has helped increase the downward spiral in the way of life for NON-rich Americans.

[robinlynne]

2. The guest worker program is a really bad, neocon idea. Read Greg Palast

on the subject 2 years ago. The concept was created by a think tank financed by walmart and others. They gave milli9ons to the republican party, and Bush started talking about this concept 3 years ago, as a result. It is based on the premise that there is a shortage of skilled and unskilled labor in the US. (really?) And it creates the means to "solve that particular problem' that the poor corporations are facing; there is noone available to hire. It lets the companies open and close a door letting workers com in from mexico when they "need" the labor, workers who would have NO RIGHTS. The only thing this program does is force American wages down. period. It will help bring an absolute end to any benefits workers have in this country, and that is its sole purpose. look behind, at who financed the concept and the resulting "law' Bush has been [pushing for years. It is a chapter in Greg Palast's book: Armed Madhouse. It is ashame some people bought into the idea, because it is nefarious. It ahs nothng to do with the plight of immigrants in the US legal or illegal. There is NO good side to this idea at all. The companies who pushed for it are paying 5.154 an hour now, and they think that is too expensive. They are spending millions to get that price down, and amke sure workers will not have collective bargaining powers at all.

[Igel]

4. Neocon or not,

it was tried in a number of European countries back in the '60s (and, IIRC, the '50s). The problem is they stayed so long they had kids and grandkids, but citizenship and integration were lagging; the Europeans didn't want to keep them but they couldn't send them back because there was no 'back'.

Created a few interesting linguistic phenomena, however: Gastarbeiterdeutsch, for example.

But the linguistics isn't worth the policy headaches. Having so many people accept the idea as though it were novel and untested is irritating, but nobody every went broke underestimating the American public--and only rarely have been voted out of office for committing the same act.

[rock]

3. We have a guest worker program

the green card.

[DemoDemoCratCrat]

5. Same survey said: fines

"Republicans support fines for businesses 72-25 percent, with Democrats at 58-38 percent and independent voters at 65-31 percent."

So, why isn't that happening?

[PassingFair]

6. No one asked ME!

Did anyone in the NORTHEAST get asked
AT ALL?

Funny, we manage to cut our own lawns
and hire our own babysitters! Imagine!
How DO WE DO IT?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

[sandnsea]

7. Sounds good on paper

Nice and logical, registered people who can come in and work, then go home. Especially in the border areas. Bring people out from the underground economy.

But it won't work that way, Mariana Islands proves that. We've already got global immigrant contractors that have been banned in Washington and in trouble in CA. If people understood this, they wouldn't support it.

I support the entire immigration bill - except guest worker. It's the absolute worst part of the bill.