Californians are more likely to see immigrants as positive for American society compared to the U.S. as a whole, according to a USC Dornsife/LA Times Poll released Sunday.
The survey found 59 percent of California voters, compared to 49 percent of U.S. voters, reported that immigrants strengthen society, while 35 percent of California voters and 43 percent of U.S. voters said they weaken it.
In California, despite the positive feelings for immigrants, 41 percent of voters believe that immigrants make things harder for them financially, while 10 percent say immigrants make things easier and 39 percent saying they make no difference.
“It’s not surprising that Californians are much more positive about the benefits of immigration than voters nationally, but even our state’s residents recognize that immigration can present economic challenges as well,” said Dan Schnur, director of USC’s Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics. “It’s a testament to California voters that they understand that the long-term positive contributions that immigrants can provide are worth the short-term financial challenges that may arise.”
Other findings from the poll show that the majority of California voters — 59 percent — report that unfairness in the economic system that favors the wealthy is a major problem in the United States. Thirty-nine percent cited over-regulation of the free market as a bigger issue in the country. However, 44 percent of California voters said that the government gets in the way of their opportunities while 39 percent said that Washington doesn’t make a difference either way.
The survey was conducted by SurveyMonkey Oct. 29 – Nov. 3, among 2,009 registered voters in California and an additional national sample of 3,035 registered voters in the United States. Error estimates for this survey are +/- 3 percentage points for California registered voters and +/- 2.5 percentage points for registered voters in the United States.
