National Poll Shows Voter Support for Immigrant Benefit Restorations

IMMIGRANTS & PUBLIC BENEFITS

National poll shows voter support for immigrant benefit restorations
Immigrants' Rights Update, Web Edition, July 15, 2002

A national telephone poll of likely U.S. voters showed that a substantial majority support the restoration of public benefits denied to immigrants under the 1996 welfare law. Of the people polled, 67 percent agreed that lawfully present immigrants should have the same access to benefits as U.S. citizens. This number increased to 79 percent when respondents were reminded that immigrants are required to pay taxes.

When broken down along party, regional, and racial/ethnic lines, support for the statements remained consistently high. Seventy-one percent of Republicans, 74 percent of Democrats, and 76 percent of Independents expressed support for the statements. Broken up by region, support was found among 74 percent of respondents in the South, 73 percent of respondents in the Northeast, 73 percent in the West, and 72 percent in the Midwest. By race, 73 percent of whites, 70 percent of African-Americans, and 75 percent of Hispanics expressed support.

Substantial majorities of voters also expressed support for immigrants' access to specific key benefits. Eighty-five percent supported giving "lawfully present immigrants who are working the same access that U.S. citizens have to work supports like help with child care, job training, as well as help learning English." Seventy-nine percent supported providing "all legal immigrant children the same access that citizen children have to Medicaid and other health care services." And 79 percent of respondents supported allowing "legal immigrants who are working and paying taxes access to the same safety net as U.S. citizens, including Medicaid, food stamps and SSI [Supplemental Security Income] disability."

Voters also supported aid to immigrants in certain circumstances, regardless of their immigration status. Seventy-nine percent supported the provision of prenatal care by the government regardless of the mother's immigration status, and 80 percent agreed that the government should "make sure that immigrant victims of domestic violence have access to needed public benefits." Seventy-nine percent agreed that immigrant children should have the same access as citizen children to Medicaid and other health care services.

These results demonstrate that voters oppose the restrictions on immigrant eligibility for public benefits imposed by the 1996 welfare law. The voters' support for reinstating immigrant access to safety net services should inform Congress as it completes its work on reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

The poll, conducted by Lake, Snell, Perry and Associates, surveyed 1,000 likely voters between May 15 and May 22, 2002. Telephone numbers for the survey were drawn from a random digit dial sample. Additional detail on the poll results is posted on NILC's web site as a PowerPoint presentation.