Europeans have deeper suspicions about immigrants than people in United States
WASHINGTON -- Immigration anxiety has been fueling a fierce political debate in the United States, but attitudes about immigrants in this country are considerably more positive than in several European countries, AP-Ipsos polling found.
People in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are much more inclined than those in the U.S. to think immigrants are likely to get involved in criminal activity.
"Often the immigrants come here and can't find work, they are forced to become criminals," said Leonardo Delogu, a doctor from Sardinia who was visiting Rome.
More than a third of Germans, Italians and Spaniards say they think immigrants are more likely to be involved in criminal activity than people born in their countries. A fourth in France and Britain feel that way.
Those European countries are about evenly divided on whether immigrants are a good influence. In general, people who make higher incomes and have had more education are more likely to say immigrants are a good influence.
In the U.S., about one in 10 thinks immigrants are more likely to be involved in crimes. And a majority, 52 percent, say they think immigrants are a good influence on the country.
After many years, a steady flow over the Mexican border into the United States has left about 11 million illegal immigrants or more in this country.
Lawmakers are under pressure to bring immigration under control and are trying to agree on legislation that would tighten security on the borders while deciding the legal fate of millions of people in this country illegally.
President Bush was in New Mexico Tuesday trying to build support for his preferred approach of securing the borders, providing a new guest worker program and giving many illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship.
Public support of immigrants often depends on their legal status.
"In a nutshell, legal immigrants are helpful, illegals are not," said Don Bick, a home builder from Pittsburgh, Pa.
Many people in this country are alarmed about the changing ethnic nature of their communities and the added burden illegal immigrants can place on public services like schools and hospitals.
For Europeans, attitudes on immigrants have been shaped by more dramatic experiences.
-- In France, young people in depressed suburbs rioted in November, burning thousands of cars and some public buildings.
-- Spanish officials are trying to deal with boatloads of destitute Africans arriving at Spain's Canary Islands on rickety fishing boats nearly every day.
-- An estimated 30 percent of Italy's prison population is made up of foreigners, often illegal immigrants convicted of crimes.
People in all eight countries in the polling -- Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the United States -- felt that immigrants work as hard or harder than people born in those countries. The polls, which questioned about 1,000 adults in each country, were conducted between May 1-22 and have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
"Working hard is the only way they're going to survive, isn't it," said Sunny Siddiq, a liquor store owner in London who moved to Britain from Pakistan nine years ago. "They don't have luxuries in their home country, so when they come here, they only have one mission: to work hard and to support families back home."
"The population of immigrants is increasing dramatically," said Fred Bemak, a George Mason University professor who studies the impact of immigration. "When it's the person next door, it changes the tone."
-- Associated Press writers Suevon Lee in London, Maria Sanminiatelli in Rome, Harold Heckle in Madrid, Jenny Barchfield in Paris and Melissa Eddy in Berlin contributed to this story.
On the Net:
Ipsos -- http://www.ap-ipsosresults.com