Survey: Region favorable toward immigrants, but with sharp political divisions

Immigration enforcement is tragically back in the headlines with two more fatal shootings in Houston and Maine by ICE agents in recent days.

Both the victims had legal status to be here. Neither was the target of an enforcement action. Neither had a criminal record. Neither — it appears — will receive justice or accountability from this administration’s Department of Justice.

Chicago area residents who endured Operation Midway Blitz can empathize.

As I said, these headlines are about immigration enforcement, but in mid-April the Chicago Council on Global Affairs did a survey of attitudes among residents in Chicago, the Cook County suburbs and Lake County toward immigration in general.

The study, the first to focus locally in more than 50 years of polling by the council, was released this week and presented at an event this past Thursday at the council’s downtown headquarters.

No one should be surprised that the attitudes toward immigration and immigrants are much more positive than one might hear from current administration spokesmen. There are 1.6 million immigrants in Cook and the five collar counties, 19% of the total population. Overwhelming majorities agreed Chicago was a welcoming city for immigrants.

More than half the respondents in the survey said they had a relative, friend or co-worker who was an immigrant, with a peak of 63% in Lake County.

Chicago has always been a gateway city for immigrants, and in 1985 it became a sanctuary city under Mayor Harold Washington. Those protections were expanded by the Welcoming City Ordinance in 2005, well before President Trump made immigration his signature issue.

The attitudes expressed in the survey reflect the Democratic lean of the city and suburbs, but even independents — who mad e up about a third of those surveyed — expressed positive attitudes toward immigrants and immigration.

That said, the partisan divisions were stark. Seventy-seven percent of Democrats thought immigrants made a positive contribution to the nation’s economy while 67% of Republicans said it was negative.

Similarly, when asked if a more diverse, multicultural America made the country a better or worse place to live, 67% of Democrats said better while 55% of Republicans said worse.

Fifty percent of Democrats supported an increase in the current level of legal immigration compared to 21% of Republicans.

Seventy-six percent of Democrats favored a pathway to citizenship for those undocumented already in the country if they met certain criteria, while 60% of Republicans favored deportations. This included the Dreamers — individuals brought to America as children. Here, Democrats favored legal status by 89% versus 48% of Republicans.

Strong majorities of Republicans and Democrats agreed that the process of immigrating legally to America was difficult. Democrats and independents stressed how important immigrants were to the agriculture, hospitality and construction industries. Democrats were more welcoming to refugees from around the globe, while Republicans tended to be more supportive of refugees from white countries such as Ukraine and Poland.

These divisions go a long way toward explaining why the Congress has been unable to pass comprehensive immigration reform. ICE is well funded, but the American immigration system remains badly broken. Apparently, our political leaders can’t figure out the “high wall/big gate” that we need.

A strong majority now disapprove of the president’s immigration policies. Normally, if you are under water on your signature issue, that would set off political alarm bells. Guess what? The president doesn’t care — he won’t face voters again.

Members of the survey team were taken aback by the number of area residents who said they gave money, called their representative or took to the streets to protest Operation Midway Blitz. Those actions, the courts and voting this November are the only way to push back against a policy characterized by its cruelty.

• Keith Peterson, of Lake Barrington, served 29 years as a press and cultural officer for the United States Information Agency and Department of State. He was chief editorial writer of the Daily Herald 1984-86. His book “American Dreams: The Story of the Cyprus Fulbright Commission” is available from Amazon.com.