Immigration and the Presidential Election:
The Mason Project on Immigration Releases a
Statewide Survey of Virginia’s Registered Voters
A statewide survey of Virginians has found that despite strident opposition to unauthorized immigrants in some areas, prospective voters do not rank immigration as a priority issue in Tuesday’s general election.
Though the survey revealed trends in favor of jailing and deporting unauthorized immigrants, it also found that a plurality (44.4 percent) favors opening pathways to citizenship for those with jobs.
The same survey, completed eight days prior to Election Day, showed Democrat Barack Obama with a 4% lead over Republican John McCain.
The results come from a Mason Project on Immigration and the Center for Social Science Research at George Mason University statewide survey of registered voters in Virginia.
Survey Results:
The telephone survey was conducted between October 18 and October 26, 2008. The survey sample size was 527 with a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points, and the dataset was weighted by race to be representative of the population of Virginia. Calls were made from a randomly selected list of registered voters in Virginia.
Among Registered Voters:
When asked who they would vote for if voting today:
Obama: 46.3 %
McCain: 42.7 %
For respondents who identified themselves as undecided voters, we asked which candidate they were leaning toward:
Obama 56.3%
McCain 43.7 %
Respondents were asked about a number of issues and their importance in influence how they might vote. The follow were the top 5 responses registered from the list. The total percentages reflect those who responded “very important” and “important”:
The current economic crisis in the U.S.: 90.0%
Finding alternative fuel sources: 84.9%
The War in Iraq: 83.3%
Education: 81.8%
Health Care: 78.7%
The second portion of the survey examined respondent opinions on a number of immigration issues. For each of the following statements, respondents were asked to express agreement or disagreement using a five-point scale. The percentages listed below reflect those who responded to the statement either “agree” or “strongly agree.”
Unauthorized immigrations should be arrested and put into jail to deter others from entering the country illegally:
38.4% agree/strongly agree
30.2% disagree/strongly disagree
All unauthorized immigrants should be deported immediately:
44.6% agree/strongly agree
36.6% disagree/strongly disagree
Unauthorized immigrants should have no access to government services including health facilities:
49.6% agree/strongly agree
30.1% disagree/strongly disagree
Unauthorized immigrants working in the U.S. should never be allowed become citizens:
17.6% agree/strongly agree
60.1% disagree/strongly disagree
Unauthorized immigrants working in the U.S. should be authorized and allowed a path to citizenship only if they pay a fine:
19.6% agree/strongly agree
52.9% disagree/strongly disagree
Unauthorized immigrants who have jobs should be able to become citizens if they want to:
44.4% agree/strongly agree
28.6% disagree/strongly disagree
Unauthorized immigrants who have jobs should be required to become citizens:
40.9% agree/strongly agree
35.8% disagree/strongly disagree
Anyone who wants to be a United States citizen should be allowed to come to the United States
23.8% agree/strongly agree
54.7 %disagree/strongly disagree
Children of unauthorized immigrants who grew up in the United States should be considered legal residents if they get a high school diploma and either attend college or get a full-time job:
49.8% agree/strongly agree
23.6% disagree/strongly disagree
According to the 14th amendment, anyone born in the United States is a U.S. citizen. We should change the Constitution so that children of unauthorized immigrants born in the U.S. should not be considered citizens:
22% agree/strongly agree
60.2% disagree/strongly disagree
This project was designed and implemented by graduate students in the School of Public Policy and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. The Mason Project on Immigration is a faculty research project of George Mason University’s Center for Social Science Research.
For a complete set of tables for the survey, click here.
