1. MIRRAM GROUP, LLC 895 Broadway, 5 th Floor New York, NY 10003 Voice: 212.505.6633 Fax: 212.505.0845 Presentation of Survey Findings November 2006 William C. Velasquez Institute

2. Key Findings

3. 3 Immigration: Good, Bad or Indifferent Overall, foreign-born Hispanics believe that immigration is a good thing for the United States Q.8: On the whole, do you think immigration is a good thing or a bad thing for this country today?

4. 4 Increasing Immigration Numbers More than half of foreign-born Hispanics believe that the US should increase the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country Q.9: Do you think the United States should increase or decrease the number of legal immigrants allowed to move to this country?

5. 5 Benefits to the economy Three-quarters of foreign-born Hispanics are more likely to believe Illegal immigrants contribute to the economy than cost taxpayers money Q.10: Which of the following statements comes closer to your own point of view? Illegal immigrants become productive citizens in the long run and pay their fair share of taxes Illegal immigrants cost taxpayers too much by using government services like public education and medical services Neither Both/Depends Don’t Know/Refused

6. 6 The Jobs Argument Four in five foreign-born Hispanics believe that illegal immigrants mostly take low-paying jobs Americans don’t want Q.11: Which of the following statements comes closer to your own point of view? Illegal immigrants mostly take jobs that American workers want Illegal immigrants mostly take low-paying jobs that Americans don’t want Neither Both/Depends Don’t Know/Refused

7. 7 Immigration Reform Proposals Foreign-born Hispanics strongly favor Congressional proposals which provide legal paths to citizenry for immigrants and guest workers. They oppose strengthening border controls. Allowing undocumented immigrants who have been living here for at least five years to gain legal status if they have a job, learn English, have no criminal record and pay taxes Granting legal status to all 10 to 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. today as long as they don’t have a criminal record Expanding legal migration visas to 300k to 50k per year for persons mostly from countries in Latin America and Asia so that these individuals can live and work in the US legally Creating a guest work program to allow foreign citizens to come here and work for a temporary period to perform jobs that Americans employers say they can’t fill Strengthening security at the borders to reduce illegal immigration, including increasing the border patrol, sending in the National Guard to patrol our borders, building a fence and using infrared cameras and unmanned planes along the US- Mexico border OpposeFavor

8. 8 Political Parties and Immigration Foreign-born Hispanics split on which party has the best position on immigration issues. Q.12: In general, which of the political parties has the best position on immigration issues?

9. 9 Who’s Responsible? Foreign-born Hispanics are most likely to blame the President and Congressional Republicans if Congress fails to pass an immigration bill this year. Q.18: If Congress fails to pass an immigration bill this year, who do you think will be the most to blame?

10. 10 Participation in Immigration Rallies Two in five foreign-born Hispanics either personally participated in immigration rallies or know someone who did. Q.19: Did you, a family member, or close friend participate in any of the rallies or marches held in many cities on the immigration issue?

11. 11 Participation in Immigration Rallies Four in five would participate in a rally if they were to take place this weekend. Q.21: If there was going to be another of these marches in your home town this weekend, would you participate or not?

12. 12 Voting Foreign-born Hispanics would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports a legalization/guest worker program. Q.24: If a candidate for public office supported a guest worker program for illegal immigrants with a path to legal citizenship, would you be more likely to vote for that candidate, less likely to vote for that candidate, or would it make no difference to your vote decision ?

13. 13 Methodology WCVI commissioned the Mirram Group to conduct a telephone survey of 800 foreign-born Hispanics nationwide. The survey was called from October 1-29, 2006. The survey was called using an RDD (Random Digit Dialing) phone methodology. The margin of error at the 95% confidence level is +/-3.46%.

14. The End