HOUSTON -- A new poll indicates most Texas voters want to get tough on border security, but they also want to give undocumented immigrants already living in the state a way to become citizens.
Voters surveyed for the KHOU-Belo Texas Poll cite immigration and border issues second only to the economy as the most important issue in the current governor's race. And most of those voters believe Gov. Rick Perry will handle the issue better than Bill White.
Immigration is the top issue for 12 percent of likely voters surveyed in the KHOU-Belo Texas Poll, with another 7 percent citing border security. When the two issues are combined, they become the top concern of 19 percent of surveyed voters.
"I think it has a lot to do with the frustration that there hasn't been anything really done about the illegal immigration issue in most people's minds," said David Iannelli, a pollster with Public Strategies, Inc., the Austin-based group that conducted the survey.
The issue seems to play into Perry's hand. When asked which candidate they thought was better able to handle the issue, 51 percent named Perry and 36 percent named White.
An overwhelming majority of surveyed voters – 70 percent -- believe Texas should adopt a strict immigration law similar to the one recently adopted in Arizona. Only 29 percent oppose such a law, which would give police in Texas the power to ask about the immigration status of anyone they detain.
But a dramatic split emerges between Anglos and Hispanics questioned about this issue. Anglos favor such a law by a whopping 80 percent, with only 19 percent opposing it. Most Hispanics, 63 percent, oppose it, while only 35 percent favor it.
By a 56 percent to 39 percent margin, likely voters favor building a fence that runs along most or all of the Texas-Mexico border. But support plunges among Hispanics, most of whom oppose a fence by a 56 percent to 42 percent margin.
That racial divide is bridged when the subject changes to sanctions against businesses that hire undocumented workers. A total of 76 percent of likely voters favor increasing the fines against Texas companies that put undocumented workers on their payroll, with only 20 percent opposing it. Hispanics agree, but by a smaller margin – 60 percent to 34 percent.
The tough attitude toward the immigration issue softens though, when it comes to undocumented workers already living in this country.
By a 58 percent to 38 percent margin, likely voters believe immigrants in Texas who don't have drug or criminal histories should have some path to becoming U.S. citizens. Among Hispanics, support for this idea skyrockets to 80 percent.
