Apparent shift in California views on immigration is encouraging

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_14831938

It's perilous to rely on any one poll to determine where the California electorate is heading. But we can't resist taking some cheer from a new Los Angeles Times-USC survey that signals a sea change in the way voters view undocumented immigrants. If it's accurate, then we've moved beyond the mean-spirited legacy of Proposition 187, the 1994 initiative to deny public education and social services to residents who came here illegally. Considering the anger and extremism that dominate so much of today's political discourse, this is a very hopeful sign.

The poll, with a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points, indicated 67 percent of Californians support a two-pronged approach to stemming illegal immigration: stronger border enforcement and — here's the aha! moment — a path to citizenship for immigrants who admit they broke the law, pay a fine and back taxes, perform community service and learn English. A majority also supports a temporary worker program.

This may surprise some political candidates. For example, a radio ad airing this week from GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman accuses her opponent, Steve Poizner, of having supported former President George W. Bush's immigration reform plan that included — gasp — a guest worker provision. Meanwhile, Poizner, a former moderate now pandering to the right, has said he'd like to toss undocumented children out of school. (Whitman, to her credit, would not.)

Proposition 187 passed with 59 percent of the vote amid a weak economy that some political leaders exploited to demonize undocumented immigrants. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional, but conservatives have clung to it as a barometer of public opinion. You don't have to be a raving liberal to believe in humane immigration reform. The alternative, mass deportation of about 12 million people, is simply impractical, and maintaining a permanent underclass will undermine all of society. Perhaps that's the reality that Californians are coming to grips with.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

GOP candidates take tough positions on illegal immigration. California gubernatorial candidates on immigration.

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/07/2660503/gop-candidates-take-tough-positions.html

"Republican candidates have responded by staking out tough positions on the subject, and Whitman rival Steve Poizner, in particular, has built much of his campaign on pledging to cut state services for all illegal immigrants. "My view is we should not have any magnets left," Poizner said last month at the state Republican convention. "We should turn off all incentives. We should end all taxpayer benefits for people here illegally."

That illegal immigration has stayed in the spotlight 16 years after state voters voted to do exactly what Poizner was suggesting wasn't a surprise for Jon Fleischman, who's the vice chairman of the state GOP's southern branch and a popular blogger.

In the most recent nonpartisan Field Poll, 58 percent of registered state Republican voters called illegal immigration one of their most important issues, just below economic and state budget concerns. A larger percentage of voters identifying themselves as strong conservatives listed illegal immigration as a most important issue. By contrast, just 27 percent of Democrats and 7 percent of strong liberals cited the issue as one of their most important."

"One of the Legislature's strongest immigrant advocates, Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, said GOP candidates playing the immigration card are hurting their chances in the general election. "We have to solve the problem of immigration and how it affects the economy and our national security," he said. "But that's not something you can do with a bumper sticker. It moves the Republican Party toward irrelevancy."

nt