Most Say, "A Legal Path to Permanent Residency and Eventual Citizenship Should Be Available to all Immigrants."

PHILADELPHIA [JUNE 28]— An independent study on U.S. views on immigration released this week finds that the public is strongly in favor of immigration reform that includes a path to permanent residency for undocumented immigrants and keeps immigrant families together (see www.afsc.org/immigration-survey).

Regarded as this year's largest, The Immigration Opinion Survey was conducted for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker social justice organization and a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. The telephone survey polled more than 1,000 people eighteen years of age or older from May 24 to June 16, 2007, including random samples of African Americans and Hispanics.

Findings indicate the public supports family unity, path to citizenship and opposes more fences. Respondents also believe, "Politicians blame illegal immigrants for our social problems to avoid handling real solutions to the nation's problems with jobs, education, and health care."

Survey respondents strongly agreed that: "White supremacist groups use the immigration debate as a recruiting tool."

Backed by a 90-year history of peace building and humanitarian work, the American Friends Service Committee is perhaps best known for launching massive food programs that fed millions of children in post-war Germany. The Service Committee accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Quakers worldwide for humanitarian relief conducted during World Wars I and II. AFSC supports the rights and dignity of all people, regardless of their immigration status. The Service Committee works to uplift migrant voices and strengthen migrant-led efforts to advocate for fair and humane national public policies.

For more information on AFSC's immigrant rights work, visit www.afsc.org/immigrants-rights.

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The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.