By Kacie Pounds
Floridians feel that undocumented immigrants should not receive government-funded help from programs such as housing assistance or unemployment benefits, according to recent research by the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education.
Only about 20 percent of respondents to an online survey thought undocumented immigrants should receive subsidized housing, financial assistance or workers’ compensation. Twenty-eight percent of respondents indicated that undocumented immigrants should receive food stamps.
Medical care and public school education were the benefits survey respondents most felt undocumented immigrants should have, but the programs garnered support of only 37 percent and 49 percent, respectively. The survey defined undocumented immigrants as “foreign nationals residing in the U.S. without legal immigration status…resulting from someone entering the country without permission or remaining in the U.S. after a legal visa expires.”
PIE Center Director Tracy Irani found that the survey respondents have some concerns about undocumented immigrants. The survey also revealed that younger respondents were slightly more likely to believe that undocumented immigrants should receive public education and should be eligible for in-state tuition.
“We can maybe see a generational shift in that younger respondents might be more familiar, and therefore comfortable with immigrants in this country,” said Irani. “They may know some immigrants.”
Currently, undocumented immigrants cannot receive assistance such as welfare or social security because they lack social security numbers.
When asked specifically about welfare, 52 percent of respondents strongly felt that undocumented immigrants should not receive the assistance. Only 14 percent of respondents thought undocumented immigrants should be eligible for welfare.
More than 500 residents replied to the PIE Center’s online survey, which was designed to match 2010 census data in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, age and education levels.
The PIE Center will conduct four public opinion studies each year that focus on key issues in Florida, such as water quantity and quality, immigration, endangered species and food production. The surveys will repeat annually to track trends in public opinion on these key issues over time.
