Montana Survey of 800 Likely Midterm Election Voters
Conducted May 17-21, 2017
By Pulse Opinion Research
Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
1. When businesses say they are having trouble finding Americans to take jobs in construction, manufacturing, hospitality and other service work, what is generally best for the country? Is it better to raise the pay until they can attract Americans without jobs even if it causes prices to rise, or is it better for the government to continue to automatically bring in new immigrants each year and keep the costs down?
67% Better to raise the pay to attract Americans without jobs even if prices rise
12% Better for the government to automatically bring in new immigrants to keep the
costs down
21% Not sure
2. Some businesses say it is especially difficult to hire workers from among groups with the highest unemployment and poverty rates, which includes Black and Hispanic Americans and younger Americans of all ethnic groups without a college degree. Should businesses be required to try harder to recruit and train people from those groups with the highest unemployment or should the government continue to bring in new immigrants to compete for the jobs?
72% Business should be required to try harder to recruit and train from groups with
highest unemployment
9% Government should continue to bring in new immigrants to compete for jobs
19% Not sure
3. Current federal policy automatically adds about one million new legal immigrants each year giving all of them lifetime work visas. Which is closest to the number of lifetime immigrant work visas the government should be adding each year -- none, 250,000, half a million, one million, one and a half million, two million, or more than two million?
21% None
23% 250,000
17% Half a million 61% Half-million or less
15% One million 26% One million or more
4% One and a half million
2% Two million
5% More than two million
14% Not sure
4. When businesses are allowed to bring in immigrant workers on lifetime work permits, who should those immigrants be allowed to eventually petition to also get lifetime work permits….their spouse and minor children only, their extended family in addition to their spouse and minor children or no family members at all?
57% Spouse and minor children only
18% Extended family in addition to spouse and minor children
17% No family members at all
8% Not sure
5. When a refugee is allowed to settle in the United States, who should that refugee be allowed to eventually petition to also get lifetime work permits -- their spouse and minor children only, their extended family in addition to their spouse and minor children or no family members at all?
53% Spouse and minor children only
23% Extended family in addition to spouse and minor children
18% No family members at all
6% Not sure
6. When people from other countries marry United States citizens, should those foreign born spouses be allowed to petition to get lifetime work permits for their extended family or should they only be allowed to petition to get lifetime work permits for any minor children they may have?
23% They should be allowed to petition for lifetime work permits for their
extended family
63% Only for any minor children they may have
14% Not sure
7. A bill in the U.S. Senate would allow immigrants to bring in their spouse and minor children but would end migration of extended family. Do you favor or oppose allowing immigrants to bring in only their spouse and minor children and NOT their extended family?
63% Favor
22% Oppose
15% Not sure
8. A bill in Congress would eliminate a government run visa lottery that each year randomly selects approximately 50,000 new immigrants around the world to move to the United States. Opponents of the visa lottery criticize it for bringing in people without any regard for their skills or how they affect American workers who have to compete with them for jobs. Supporters of the visa lottery say it is needed to add diversity to the United States. Should the United States eliminate the visa lottery or continue the visa lottery?
56% Eliminate the visa lottery
30% Continue the visa lottery
14% Not sure
9. Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose setting up rules to ensure that businesses give first preference for jobs to American workers and legal immigrants already in this country before businesses can ask for new immigrant workers?
59% Strongly support
22% Somewhat support 81% Support
7% Somewhat oppose 10% Oppose
3% Strongly oppose
8% Not sure
10. The Pew Research Center projects that immigration policies are set to add more than 100 million people to the United States over the next 50 years. In terms of the environmental consequences of that much population growth, will the effect be negative, positive, or basically neutral?
53% Negative
7% Positive
28% Basically neutral
13% Not sure
11. A bill in Congress would reduce by 40% the one million legal immigrants automatically added to the country each year. Is this too large a reduction, too small a reduction or is the reduction about right?
27% Too large a reduction
25% Too small a reduction
32% The reduction is about right
16% Not sure
12. On the issue of helping refugees, the U.S. government has settled an average of 63,000 refugees in local U.S. communities every year for the last decade. Next year how many refugees should the United States admit – more than 100,000, 75000, 50000, 25000, fewer than 25000, or none and instead assist refugees in safe zones close to their home countries?
18% Admit more than 100,000
10% Admit 75,000 28% More than 50,000
9% Admit 50,000 62% 50,000 or less
7% Admit 25,000
9% Admit fewer than 25,000
37% Admit none and instead assist refugees in safe zones close to their home countries
10% Not sure
13. Do you find most immigrants you have met personally to be hard-working people who would make good neighbors?
57% Yes
17% No
26% Not sure
14. In the question of ILLEGAL immigration, do you favor or oppose requiring every business to use the government’s online E-Verify system to make sure every job goes to an American or other authorized worker instead of to an illegal worker?
70% Favor requiring E-Verify
15% Oppose requiring E-Verify
14% Not sure
Methodology: The survey of 800 likely midterm voters in Montana was conducted by Pulse Opinion Research on May 17-21, 2017. Pulse Opinion Research, LLC is an independent public opinion research firm using automated polling methodology and procedures licensed from Rasmussen Reports, LLC.
“Likely Midterm Voters” are those who answered “always” or “usually” to the question: “How often do you vote in congressional elections when there isn’t a presidential contest?”
The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 3.5% percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. This means that an identical survey conducted under the same circumstances would generate a result within the margin of sampling error 19 times out of 20.
The survey was conducted using an established automated polling methodology. For 75%, sample calls were placed to randomly-selected phone numbers through a process that insures appropriate geographical representation. Twenty five percent (25%) of the sample was conducted via online surveys of those individuals who use a cell-phone as their primary telephone. After the calls and on-line surveys were completed, the raw data is processed through a weighting program to insure that the sample reflects the overall population in terms of age, race, gender, political party, and other factors. The processing step is required because different segments of the population answer the phone in different ways. For example, women answer the phone more than men, older people are home more and answer more than younger people, and rural residents typically answer the phone more frequently than urban residents.
The population targets were based upon census bureau data, a series of screening questions to determine likely voters, and other factors. Pulse Opinion Research determines its partisan weighting targets through a dynamic weighting system that takes into account voting history, national trends, and recent polling.
