Americans' Views on Illegal Immigrants Are Complex and Conflicted, Poll Shows

A case in point is Marie McCay, 64, a retired checkout clerk living in Hartselle, Ala., who speaks admiringly of the Mexican construction workers employed by one of her sons. McCay said she would have "absolutely no problem" if Congress were to allow illegal immigrants in her area to adjust their status. But she thinks it far more urgent that it address her high gas and grocery bills.

"Just yesterday I had to pay $6 for 10 oranges. And I'm spending more than $100 a month on gas just to get to the doctor in Nashville," she said. "All I have to live on is my pension and my Social Security, and this is really cutting into it."

By contrast, Virginia Steffes, 71, a retired school-bus driver living in New Era, Mich., who is adamantly against the path-to-citizenship proposal, said she feels that illegal immigration is among the most pressing problems facing the country.

"If we don't address it soon, we're going to have so many illegals here that we won't be able to do anything to handle them," she said. "We'll have a total overflow situation."

Yet, in another twist, Steffes and many others against the citizenship plan said they would nonetheless favor alternatives that offer illegal immigrants some measure of forgiveness.

For instance, David Fleischer, an information technology consultant living in Columbus, Ohio, proposes that illegal immigrants be given the chance to register for strictly temporary work permits.

"Look, there are no easy answers," he said. "But the key is to get them in the system."

Supporters of the path to citizenship were often just as ambivalent: 40 percent said illegal immigrants should have to return to their home countries to apply for legalization.

Immigrants and their advocates have said this would be expensive and unworkable. But it is nonnegotiable as far as Julian Maden of Detroit is concerned.

"It just seems like if they didn't come in the right way at first, they should have to go back to their countries and do it the right way," said Maden, 19.

In the interviews, respondents to the survey also seemed conflicted over whether Congress should substantially increase the number of guest workers permitted in the United States.

The plan was supported by slightly more that half, but approval increased to 64 percent when a suggestion was offered: that the program be limited to industries where a shortage of workers has been identified by the government. In the interviews, some expressed doubts as to whether government and industry can be trusted to make that determination.

Janet Buffman, 64, a former shoe-store owner in Grand Rapids, Mich., said she believes that many employers are simply unwilling to pay wages American workers consider reasonable.

"I have friends who used to put up drywall who were pushed out" by Mexicans, she said. "They were making $16 to $18 an hour plus some medical insurance. Now it's gone down to $9 to $10 an hour. And, well, you can't support a family on that."

Opal Crazell, 58, a retiree in Konowa, Okla., who said she adores her Pakistani doctor, blamed Americans rather than immigrants or employers. "Sure, the immigrants are taking jobs that Americans can do. But maybe it's because they want to work more. We have a lot of Americans that just don't want to work."

Yet she ultimately came down against the guest worker proposal.

"At the end of the day, I think we already have enough immigrants," she said.

Polling director Jon Cohen and polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.