US Supports Border

From USA Today:
"Americans increasingly want border secured"

Americans have become more focused on securing the border and less interested in providing legal standing to undocumented immigrants living in the USA, according to a poll released Wednesday.
In the wake of news reports about tens of thousands of Central American children rushing across the nation's southwestern border, a new Pew Research Center survey found that 33% of Americans want to focus on border security, 23% prefer a pathway to citizenship, and 41% want both. Last year, as Congress debated an immigration bill that would have allowed many of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants to become citizens, Pew estimated that 25% of Americans wanted the government to focus on granting citizenship, 25% wanted more focus on enhanced enforcement, and the rest felt both should be given equal priority. The shift in views spans political leanings, as more Republicans, Democrats and independents favor focusing on border security. Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that advocates for lower levels of legal and illegal immigration, said the new numbers show how a desire for more immigration enforcement is no longer just a conservative idea but one that more Americans are embracing. He said news videos documenting the rush of Central American children across the border was a visual wake-up call. "It showed Americans that the concerns that have been stated about enticing an uncontrolled flow at the border were no longer theoretical, they were actual," Beck said. "That has had a profound effect on people's thinking." In a separate report released Wednesday, Pew found that the number of undocumented immigrants living in the country remained at about 11.3 million in 2013, marking the fifth straight year that the estimate has remained stable. The number had increased steadily for two decades, from 3.5 million in 1990 to 11.3 million in 2009. The findings show that fewer undocumented immigrants are coming to the U.S., but those who have come are settling in. The median time that adult undocumented immigrants have been in the U.S. is now nearly 13 years. The number of undocumented immigrants could be a critical statistic as President Obama considers expanding the pool of those protected from deportation. In 2012, he created a program that has allowed more than 550,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children to avoid deportation proceedings for two years. Now Obama is considering expanding that program to their parents, relatives or those who have been in the country for long periods of time.

^ It amazes me that 13 years after 9-11 the US borders are still as unguarded as before. At least it seems more people are finally starting to understand that illegal = criminal and want something to happen. ^



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/03/undocumented-immigrant-population-stalls/15015799/