Poll: Immigration a top priority for Californians
SAN JOSE — More Californians think immigration and illegal immigration are the most important issue for state officials to tackle in the coming year than education, jobs, the environment and homelessness, according to a new statewide poll released Wednesday.
The Public Policy Institute of California poll comes amid rancorous debate in the nation’s capital with another government shutdown looming next week unless President Donald Trump and Congressional Democrats hammer out a deal on border security. The federal government was partially shut down for weeks in a funding standoff over White House demands for a “wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The PPIC poll asked respondents which issue facing California is most important for the governor and state lawmakers to work on in the coming year, and found 15 percent of surveyed adults identifying immigration and illegal immigration. That topped other issues, including education (11 percent), jobs and the economy (10 percent), the environment (8 percent) and homelessness (6 percent).
The breakdown was similar among Bay Area respondents, while those in the Los Angeles area ranked education a higher priority. Immigration was the highest priority in the Central Valley and among Republicans. Democrats ranked education and the environment higher and political independents gave equal importance to immigration and education.
Political experts said Californians’ focus on immigration reflects the power of the president to steer public debate toward their priorities.
“It’s what political scientists call the agenda-setting power of the president,” said Melissa Michelson, professor of political science at Menlo College. “That doesn’t mean they agree with Trump, which also shows up in the poll.”
Trump and Congress remain deeply unpopular among Californians, according to the poll, which found only about a third of respondents approved of their job performance, though Trump remains popular with the state’s Republicans, who account for about one in four registered voters.
Most surveyed blamed Trump and the GOP for the partial government shutdown. But although 64 percent of adults surveyed blamed Trump, 71 percent of Republicans found congressional Democrats at fault.
The poll found 69 percent of surveyed adults oppose building a wall along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, though 76 percent of Republicans voiced support. Most of California’s border with Mexico already is lined with fencing and vehicle barriers — the unfenced border is mostly in Texas.
But respondents’ interest in immigration as a priority for a state where Democrats have passed “sanctuary” legislation to frustrate federal immigration enforcement suggests residents’ views may be somewhat nuanced.
A Quinnipiac University poll also out Wednesday echoed PPIC’s finding of broad opposition in California to a border wall at 64 percent. It also found that 76 percent of Californians say immigration is good for the country and 82 percent say the “Dreamers” — young immigrants brought illegally into the country as children — should be allowed to stay and apply for citizenship, with support among all political affiliations.
Political analyst Dan Schnur, a former GOP aide who teaches political communications at the University of Southern California and UCBerkeley, said the findings represent “the Trump-ification of California politics,” to the Republican party’s detriment in the Golden State.
“The president had elevated the immigration issue to be a top-tier motivator for his supporters, but it’s become even more important to his opponents,” Schnur said. “His focus on a border wall helps him in some parts of the country, but it hurts him badly here.”
But Quinnipiac also found a plurality — 36 percent — feel undocumented immigrants get too much protection in California and 52 percent of respondents oppose extending federal health care aid to them.
The poll also found continued strong support for California’s landmark Proposition 13, the property tax limits voters approved in 1978 which a 2020 ballot initiative would weaken by removing the protections for commercial properties.
The poll found 61 percent of adults and 64 percent of likely voters surveyed felt the property tax limits — often assailed by many liberals, Democrats and government unions — have been “mostly a good thing.” Among likely voters, the poll found strong support for Prop 13 across ethnic and age groups, income and education levels and political affiliations.
As for whether its protections should be peeled back for commercial properties, the poll found 49 percent of likely voters in favor, 43 percent opposed and 8 percent unsure, with Democrats in favor, Republicans opposed and independents split.