Immigration more accepted here, poll finds

Half of Washington state voters say illegal immigration is a very serious issue for the country and legal immigration should be kept at its present level.

The findings, in a new statewide Elway Poll, show Washington voters are more tolerant of immigration — both legal and illegal — than the rest of the country is. A national CBS poll last month found that nearly two-thirds of the country believes illegal immigration is a very serious problem.

While 70 percent of Washington voters want to either keep legal immigration at its current level or increase it, only 49 percent of the nation agrees. Only 21 percent of state voters want to see a decrease, compared with 45 percent nationwide.

"The national debate over immigration is slightly less heated in Washington state," pollster Stuart Elway said.

The Elway poll found concern about illegal immigration varied across the state. While only 30 percent of Seattle voters said it was a very serious problem, 68 percent of those in Eastern Washington agreed.

When asked to identify their biggest concern about the issue, the largest, by far, was that illegal immigrants use more public services than they pay for in taxes. That issue was cited by 34 percent of those polled, both in Washington state and nationwide.

In the state poll, 17 percent said their biggest concern was that illegal immigrants broke the law to enter the United States, and 10 percent said they take jobs away from legal residents. Only 7 percent said they threaten national security.

"Most troubling to both the Washington and national samples was the belief that illegal immigrants use services but do not pay taxes," Elway said.

When asked what should be done with illegal immigrants, 67 percent of Washington voters said immigrants who have lived here a number of years should be allowed to apply for legal status and eventually become citizens if they meet conditions such as paying a fine and back taxes. Just 13 percent said illegal immigrants should be declared felons and not allowed to work.

Belief in the seriousness of the problem went up with age and down with education level: 34 percent of those under age 35 said it was very serious, compared with 63 percent of those over age 65. And 66 percent of those with a high-school education said it was a very serious problem, compared with 39 percent of those with a college degree.

There was strong division on the issue among party lines: 70 percent of Democrats in Washington said illegal immigration is a serious or very serious problem, compared with 90 percent of Republicans. Among independents, 82 percent consider illegal immigration a serious or very serious problem.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com