---

---

Immigration Issues

Hispanics Support Immigration Curbs

About 915,000 legal immigrants came to the United States in fiscal 1996. Immigration levels are higher this decade than any decade in U.S. history. Among the groups disturbed by this trend are American Hispanics. A survey by the Tomas Rivera Center of 1,621 Hispanic-Americans found that a majority are not in favor of the current open-door policy. In Texas, 59 percent supported curbs on immigration, while only 30 percent opposed them. In California, opposition to immigration outpolled support by 47 percent to 39 percent. Even Hispanic noncitizens showed support for reducing immigration, ranging from 29 percent in California to 41 percent in Florida. The 1990 Latino National Political Survey found that three-quarters of Mexican-Americans, two-thirds of Cuban-Americans and nearly 80 percent of Puerto Ricans agreed that "there are too many immigrants coming into this country." According to Louis DeSipio of the University of Illinois, lower-income Hispanics are the most opposed to immigration because their jobs are most at risk from uneducated immigrants. Analysts say that politicians often misread these results when they pass laws that Hispanics perceive as "anti-immigrant" rather than "anti-immigration" -- such as California Proposition 187 or the 1996 welfare reform law. They note that Hispanics actually tend to favor some welfare cutbacks as long as they are across-the-board and not targeted at immigrants. Source: David A. Price, "Anti-immigration Immigrants," Investor's Business Daily, September 9, 1997.

---

Home | Support Us | All Issues | Social Security | Debate Central | Contact Us

Dallas Headquarters: 12770 Coit Rd., Suite 800 - Dallas, TX 75251-1339 - 972/386-6272 - Fax 972/386-0924
Washington Office: 601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 900 South Building - Washington, DC 20004 - 202/220-3082 - Fax 202/220-3096
© 2001 NCPA