Time Poll: Americans Back Border Fence, Deportations and Denying Benefits

Americans support building a security fence along the entire 2,000 mile U.S.- Mexican border by a landslide, a new Time magazine poll has found.

By a margin of 56 to 40 percent, respondents said they want the wall built from sea to shining sea - not just the 700 miles stipulated in the House plan, a proposal the press calls "draconian."

A full 75 percent say illegals should be denied government supplied health care and food stamps, with 21 percent saying they should get those benefits. A majority, 69 percent, say illegals shouldn't be allowed to get U.S. drivers licenses.

In more evidence that the American people want a tougher crackdown on illegal immigration than anything favored by Congress or the media, 62 percent told Time that they favored using the military to guard the border. Just 35 percent opposed.

But the poll's biggest shocker may be on the question of deporting illegals back to their native country, an option that politicians and the press say is out of the question.

Time found, however, that 47 percent of those surveyed actually favor deporting "all illegal immigrants," and 49 percent were opposed.
Most, 51 percent, said the U.S. would be "better of" if all illegals were deported and the border sealed to prevent any more from coming in. Just 38 percent disagreed.


Time surveyed 1004 adult Americans on March 29 and 30. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent