Well, that didn’t take long. The recent conservative arguments have really been effective to turn the tide in the Senate Gang of Eight immigration reform bill. The CBO projections, which found that illegal immigration will not be addressed, no doubt had given the conservative opposition the ammo that would have an impact on public opinion.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated last week that the immigration reform plan now before Congress would stop the flow of future illegal immigrants by no more than 50% – more realistically the CBO reported 75% would still happen – and voters simply do not think that is enough. Support for the plan has plummeted, but it falls even more dramatically when the 50% figure is brought to their attention.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 50% of Likely U.S. Voters now favor a plan to give legal status to those here illegally, even if the border is really secured to prevent future immigration. That’s drastically lower than the 60% who favored the Senate Gang of Eight bill less than three weeks ago, and despite the U.S. Senate’s passage of the measure since then. Regardless, 30% of Americans remain opposed, and 39% favor a reform plan that cuts future illegal immigration by just 50%, while 19% now say that they are undecided.
