More good stuff from CNU’s Center for Public Policy polling: Virginians harbor ambivalent sentiments about illegal immigrants. When asked if they favored cutting public services to undocumented workers, even children, 53 percent said yes. And 55 percent agreed that police should have the authority to stop any driver they suspected of being an illegal alien to check their legal status.
But dig deep enough, and there are signs that Virginians have a heart: 75 percent opposed the idea of denying illegal immigrants access to emergency room care. And a solid majority — 58 percent — recoiled at the idea of deporting undocumented workers if it meant forcing them to leave U.S.-born citizen children behind. (That question was somewhat loaded: The Center might have gotten a different answer if it had asked whether people would favor deportation “even if it meant taking their U.S.-born children with them,” as opposed to assuming that the family had to be split up.)
