Latinos Divided on Bush Immigration Plan

SAN FRANCISCO - Hispanics generally approve of President Bush's proposal for a national guest worker program, but their opposition grows after they learn its details, according to a poll released Thursday.

The survey found 42 percent of respondents supported Bush's immigration reform plan, with 20 percent opposed and the remainder undecided. But opinions split 45-45 once respondents were informed that most immigrant workers would have to return home once their legal status expired.

"They seem to think that the proposal is incomplete," said Sergio Bendixen, who conducted the poll for New California Media, a nationwide coalition of ethnic news organizations.

Bush's proposal would give currently undocumented immigrants renewable three-year permits to work U.S. jobs.

Three-quarters of respondents said they preferred a plan that lets foreign workers earn citizenship through their work - a central theme among proposals from members of Congress since Bush announced his plan earlier this month.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy said Thursday that Bush opposes giving illegal immigrants a direct path to citizenship.

"This president doesn't make decisions based on polls, he makes decisions based on what he thinks is right," Duffy said.

Duffy also questioned the value of the poll because a key question mischaracterized Bush's proposal as limiting immigrants to a six-year stay. Bush opposes letting undocumented workers stay indefinitely, Duffy said, but details of how many times workers could renew their initial three-year visas will be negotiated with Congress.

Bendixen responded to Duffy's objection by saying that the number of years was less important than the fact that immigrants would be forced to leave eventually.

Pollsters between Jan. 20-26 conducted a telephone survey of 800 people with Latino surnames who identified themselves as being Hispanic. Such methodology is sometimes used by pollsters but critics say it is not as reliable as drawing a sample through random-digit dialing. The sampling error margin was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Bush's guest worker plan was big news in Hispanic communities: Three-quarters of poll respondents said they had heard about it, but nearly two-thirds saw it as an election year attempt to woo Hispanic voters.

The policy debate will likely have implications for the presidential race, in which both parties are courting Hispanics, who account for an increasingly important voting bloc in national elections.

Hispanics were important to Bush's election in 2000. He garnered just 35 percent of their votes, but Hispanics traditionally have voted more solidly Democratic.

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Associated Press Writer Leslie Hoffman in Albuquerque contributed to this report.