NUMEROUS POLLS OUT IN THE LAST WEEK HAVE SHOWN THAT A SIGNIFICANT MAJORITY OF AMERICANS WANT THEIR GOVERNMENT TO CRACK DOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. A JOINT POLL BY NBC NEWS AND THE WALL STREET JOURNAL FOUND THAT 56 PERCENT OF AMERICANS OPPOSED GRANTING TEMPORARY WORKER STATUS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. LIKEWISE, A QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL FOUND THAT 62 PERCENT OF AMERICAN CITIZENS BELIEVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SHOULD NOT BE NATURALIZED. THE POLL DATA CONFIRMS WHAT MANY LAWMAKERS IN CONGRESS HAVE SAID IS A STRONG POPULAR SENTIMENT AGAINST 'REWARDING' ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, WHETHER THROUGH WORK PERMITS, STATE BENEFITS, OR CITIZENSHIP. THE LATEST INDEPENDENT ESTIMATES, FROM GROUPS LIKE THE PEW HISPANIC CENTER, SUGGEST THAT AS MANY AS 12 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS NOW LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF LATINOS RALLIED AROUND THE COUNTRY LAST WEEK TO SHOW THEIR OPPOSITION TO BILLS PROPOSED IN CONGRESS THAT WOULD CRIMINALIZE HIRING OR AIDING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. THE LATEST POLLS SHOW THAT POPULAR SENTIMENT AMONG AMERICANS HAS NOT CHANGED, DESPITE THE DRAMATIC PROTESTS IN LOS ANGELES, PHOENIX, CHICAGO, AND ELSEWHERE.
