The good news here is that a strong preponderance of Americans still reject rewarding lawbreaking foreigners and giving them citizenship. The bad news is that a majority of citizens didn’t want Obamacare either, and it is now law. The Democrats in charge have an agenda and the desire of the little people out in the country matters zip to liberal elites.

Even with years of sob stories in the media about poor Mexicans suffering from (self-created) family separations, and outright lies about illegal aliens’ ”contribution” to our economy (”cheap” strawberries, etc.), most people are tired of the increased crime, battered society and the expense of open borders.

Should path for citizenship be made easier for illegal immigrants?, CNN, April 12, 2010

Washington (CNN) — Two-thirds of Americans don’t want to make it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens, even though a slight majority is sympathetic towards their plight, according to a new poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Sunday indicates that 66 percent of Americans say the U.S. should not make it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens, with 33 percent disagreeing.

Forty-two percent of Democrats questioned say the path to citizenship for illegal immigrants should be made easier. That number drops to 33 percent for independents and 16 percent for Republican respondents.

”Virtually all major subgroups oppose making it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens, at least in the abstract,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. ”Specific legislation that puts limits on the ability to gain citizenship has sometimes met with favor in the past if it restricts the number who can apply and penalizes them for staying in the country illegally. But the overall principle remains unpopular.”

According to the poll, 52 percent are sympathetic to illegal immigrants and their families, down five points from 2006, with 47 percent unsympathetic, up eight points from four years ago.

”There are minor demographic differences on the sympathy question,” says Holland. ”For example, women appear slightly more sympathetic than men. But the biggest difference is the partisan breakdown. Two-thirds of Democrats say they sympathize with illegal immigrants, compared to roughly half of Independents and only one in four Republicans.”

Hey, I’m ”sympathetic” as far as that goes. I would love to see the millions of illegal aliens removed and happily ensconced in their home countries, making a decent living and leaving us alone. That’s why I’ve written about microlending at length, to explore approaches to poverty alleviation that aren’t based on immigration. But ”sympathy” would never convince me to reward lawbreakers. That reinforces bad behavior and is terrible public policy.