Global Opinion Favors Immigration Limits

[peejay 327]

Global Opinion Favors Immigration Limits

By ALAN FRAM – 21 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Strong majorities in the U.S. and many Western and developing nations favor tightened restrictions on immigration, a poll of countries around the globe showed Thursday.

At the same time, most people in every country surveyed said they think increased trade is good for their nation. Majorities in most countries also expressed favor for free market economies and for the impact that foreign companies are having at home.

The findings came from a poll conducted this spring in 46 countries, plus the Palestinian territories, that was overseen by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, a Washington-based research organization. It included countries from the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Only in South Korea and the Palestinian territories did most people express opposition to tighter immigration policies, while in Japan they were evenly split. Support for stronger restrictions was dominant everywhere else. It generally was greatest in Africa and South Asia, including about nine in 10 in Indonesia, Malaysia, Ivory Coast and South Africa.

"In many parts of the world, people see immigration as destabilizing" and a threat to their cultures, said Andrew Kohut, Pew president and director of the study. "And they worry about jobs."

The survey, which sought global opinion on a range of issues and lifestyle questions, also found:

_More than a two-to-one preference in Russia for a strong leader over a democracy. That was the weakest support for democracy in the survey;

_Wide agreement that military force is sometimes needed to maintain order in the world, with majorities disagreeing only in Germany, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Jordan and South Korea;

_Strong majorities everywhere, though to a lesser extent in the Muslim world, for educating boys and girls equally;

_Broad acceptance for homosexuality in the Americas and Western Europe, and strong disapproval virtually everywhere else.

In the U.S., 75 percent favored tougher immigration restrictions, though this was 6 percentage points fewer than in 2002.

While majorities in every country looked positively on trade, the 59 percent in the U.S. who agreed was the lowest figure in the survey. That was down from 78 percent five years ago, reflecting concerns about slow wage growth and the quality of jobs, Kohut said, and pointing toward possible campaign-season debates on trade policy.

Widespread acceptance of global trade and free markets was coupled with cautions about the impact of worldwide competition. Majorities everywhere said governments should take care of the poorest people, and most in every nation but Indonesia said they favored protecting the environment even if that slowed economic growth and cost jobs.

The poll involved telephone and face-to-face interviews with 45,239 people in 46 countries plus the Palestinian territories, conducted in April and May. All samples were national except for Bolivia, Brazil, China, India, Ivory Coast, Pakistan, South Africa, and Venezuela, where they were mostly or completely conducted in cities.

The numbers of people interviewed in each country varied from 500 each in Spain, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Kuwait to 3,142 in China. The margin of sampling error in each country ranged from plus or minus 2 percentage points to 4 percentage points.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h_GM9Y6...Dn1p1gD8S2L9V01

[Peikko 1,575]

The poll involved telephone and face-to-face interviews with 45,239 people...The numbers of people interviewed in each country varied from 500 each in Spain, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Kuwait to 3,142 in China.

I have no idea how this kind of poll stacks up against other polls, but really this seems a very, very insignificant number to draw any kind of realistic conclusions from. Global opinion...hmmm.

Edited October 5, 2007 by Purple_Hibiscus

[Jasman0717 9]

The poll involved telephone and face-to-face interviews with 45,239 people...The numbers of people interviewed in each country varied from 500 each in Spain, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Kuwait to 3,142 in China.

I have no idea how this kind of poll stacks up against other polls, but really this seems a very, very insignificant number to draw any kind of realistic conclusions from. Global opinion...hmmm.

Maybe it is some kind of population ratio but 3,142 from China still doesn't seem enough.

Anyway, I think there needs to be a revamp on immigration and better protection for our boarders

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

ILLEGAL immigration is the problem.