HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A large majority of Houston-area residents believe that the immigration system is broken, according to findings from a new study from Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
Nearly 10,000 Houstonians took this survey at the start of this year and shared their views on different immigration policies. The Kinder Institute particularly looked at what politically moderate residents think.
“What is the middle of the country wanting to say about this? We understand the extremes. Well, what about the middle? Where are the rest of us on this topic?” said Daniel Potter, with the Houston Population Research Center at the Kinder Institute.
The report showed that more than 80% of Houston-area residents who took the survey do not think the U.S. immigration system is working well.
Potter said a majority of respondents agreed there was a problem that needed to be solved, and that increasing pathways to citizenship was the answer.
“Over 70% of folks identifying as even slightly conservative, moderate, were saying we want to solve this problem by increasing pathways to citizenship” Potter said. “Those folks leaning slightly liberal, even higher percent supporting that legalized increased pathways to citizenship.”
Another question asked whether or not residents wanted to see local law enforcement supporting federal agencies in identifying and potentially detaining undocumented individuals.
“Over 70% know they do not want to see local law enforcement involved,” Potter said. “That is the opposite of what we have seen unfolding and the opposite of legislation that was passed recently here within the state.”
When it came to deportations, the majority of respondents opposed deporting undocumented immigrants in different scenarios.
“They oppose deportation for that individual brought as a child who’s now an adult,” Potter said. “They oppose deportation for that individual who had children born here in the US. They oppose deportation for teenagers that were escaping violence.”
However, there was an exception for when an individual is arrested for a crime. When respondents were asked to consider specific deportation scenarios, the survey asked about an undocumented individual arrested for drunk driving.
“Did you support or oppose mass deportation? And there you actually see the needle swing in the entire opposite direction where there was a support for deportation of that individual,” Potter said.
According to the study, the Department of Homeland Security estimated there were around 2 million undocumented individuals in Texas between 2018 and 2022.
“One of the really cool things about Houston is that we are that mosaic of folks who just came in and are coexisting,” Cesar Espinosa, the executive director of FIEL, which is an immigrant-led civil rights organization, said.
Espinosa said he was not surprised by these findings.
“We’re seeing it in our communities,” Espinosa said. “We’re seeing it happening in real time. We know an immigrant. We know what immigrants are about and how much they contribute to our society instead of taking away.”
Potter said this report ultimately gives important insight into how some Houstonians stand on these issues.
“I think it’s just very helpful for us to check in with one another on these types of questions,” Potter said.
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