By Brendan Carruthers, Jenny Fisher, and Kat Wildermuth Immigration By Brendan Carruthers, Jenny Fisher, and Kat Wildermuth

Background The question of immigration, especially illegal immigration, is one that has always been a polemical issue. In light of the recent economic recession, this issue has flared up in the minds of many Americans. Some Americans believe strongly that Immigrants take jobs from American citizens, and cost the taxpayers in the way of government immigration services and healthcare.

Opinion Poll The 80’s saw a gradual decline in the number of people who wanted less immigration. Pro-immigration sentiments continued through the 90’s, but were drastically inverted immediately after 9/11. The spike on the graph shows the number of people who supported immigration went down and the number opposed went up. Support for immigration gradually increased once more, but saw another downturn following the 2008 economic recession.

Statistical Contradiction This is a difficult issue to solve, since the American people have shown contradictory views on the subject of immigration. Recent surveys show that a majority of natural citizens think immigration is a good thing, and yet want less immigration.

Demographic Gaps Opinions on immigration legislation vary by age, party affiliation, and education. Younger people tend to favor increased immigration, middle aged people favor the same level of legislation, and the elderly tend to favor a reduction of immigration. This graph also shows that 77% of higher educated individuals (college or post graduate study) believe immigration to be a good thing. The less educated an individual is, the more he or she is likely to think immigration is a bad thing.

Subgroup A1 White Female Post-Secondary education Registered voter

Subgroup B2 White Jewish High school student Non-registered

Subgroup C3 Male In college 18-25 years of age Registered to vote

Survey Questions (and predicted results) On a scale of 1-5, How big of an issue do you think illegal immigration is? A1 – 2-3 (2.75) B2 – 3-4 (3.5) C3 – 2-3 (3) Do you feel that immigration laws are too strong? A1 – disagree (agree) B2 – agree (agree) C2 – agree (disagree)

Questions cont. Do you support the Dream Act? A1 – I don’t know (yes) B2 – yes (yes) C3 – yes (yes) Do you feel that the influx of immigrants steal jobs from a natural citizens? A1 – yes (yes) B2 – no (no) C3 – yes (yes)

Questions cont. Do you feel that the process to become a US citizen is fair and practical? A1 – yes (no) B2 – no (no) C3 – yes (equal yes and no) Would you support a bill to provide extra funding to border patrol and homeland security? A1 – yes (no) B2 – no (no) C3 – yes (indifferent)

Questions cont. Are you aware of the penalties of being identified as an illegal immigrant in the US? If yes, do you think that they should be changed? A1 – no, N/A (no, N/A) B2 – yes, yes (no, N/A) C3 – yes, no (yes, yes) How do you feel about the government using predator drones to patrol the border? A1 – uncomfortable (supportive) B2 – very uncomfortable (uncomfortable) C3 – uncomfortable (supportive)

Reflection While there were several anomalies in the received responses, our data mostly confirmed our expectations. Subgroups A,B, and C behaved according to data shown in Gallup polls and based on their level of education, age, and demographic. Results are expected to be influenced by liberal ideology due to our location. We learned that gender gap can be a heavily defining factor in these issues, and that there can be a heavy deviation within a subgroup. We found several more extremist and centrist viewpoints than expected, especially under the sections regarding the toughness of Immigration laws and the passing of the Dream Act. Our survey takers also seem to be split on the issue of predator drones patrolling our borders, and on the punitive measures enacted against identified illegal immigrants. We learned from both our survey and chapter 7 that Americans may have a strong conservative opinion on one matter, and yet a very liberal opinion on the other. They do not view themselves as being inconsistent because to them the topics aren’t necessarily linked. This process has also shown us the importance of checking for consistency within a subgroup and surveying a broad spectrum of the populace so that our results will not be skewed geographically.