Poll Position

From Sunday, April 30, 2006

**

Today's /LA Times/ has a front page poll that seems designed to get
certain results rather than find the truth. The headline: GUEST-WORKER
PROPOSAL HAS WIDE SUPPORT.

How do they conclude this? Well, they asked people which approach they
prefer to illegal immigration, "only tougher enforcement of immigration
laws" or "enforcement and guest worker program." Not surprisingly, given
a choice of solution A or solution A plus B, the vast majority picked
the latter (Californians 70% to 22%, the nation 63% to 30%).

The paper's excuse is these are the two choices being offered the
public. Even if this were true, it doesn't mean they shouldn't try to
find out what people actually believe. For instance, they could have
offered a third choice--only a guest worker program--and see how that
played. Or they could have asked, straight out, which is more important,
greater enforcement or a guest worker program. I guess they were afraid
of what they'd discover.

(They also might also have mentioned more about plans to make illegal
immigrants citizens, since "guest worker program" in the question above
was apparently described as a plan that "would allow undocumented
workers to work legally in the U.S. on temporary visas.")

PS They did ask further questions about different proposals. It's
touching to see how they lovingly describe the guest worker program and
make tougher enforcement sound quite harsh. Here's the wording they used:

*Do you support or oppose the following proposals.*

/Create a guest worker program that would give a temporary visa to
noncitizens who want to work legally in the United States. The program
would provide a path to permanent resident status if certain
requirements were met./
//
/Allow undocumented immigrants who have been living and working in the
United States for a number of years, and who do not have a criminal
record, to start on a path to citizenship by registering that they are
in the country, paying a fine, getting fingerprinted, and learning
English, among other requirements./
//
/Fence off hundreds of miles of the border between the Unted States and
Mexico, and toughen immigration laws by making it a felony to be in the
United States illegally./

by LAGuy