A statewide poll released Tuesday found that a majority of voters support proposals to criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants in Arizona and punish employers who hire such immigrants.

Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said they would support letting police officers charge illegal immigrants with criminal trespassing, according to the poll by KAET-TV and Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Twenty-seven percent oppose the idea, while 8 percent had no opinion on the subject.

A proposal at the Legislature would ask voters to expand the state's trespassing law to criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants in Arizona. The measure would need to clear the Legislature before it would be put on the 2008 ballot.

The poll of 600 registered voters was taken on Feb. 22-25 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The survey also found that 55 percent of voters would support a proposal that would make it a felony for businesses in Arizona to hire illegal immigrants. More than a third oppose it. Eight percent were undecided.

A bill at the Legislature would prohibit employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and require businesses to sign affidavits saying they aren't breaking such a rule. Under the proposal, it would be a felony for an employer to provide false information on an affidavit.

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KAET-TV: http://www.kaet.asu.edu

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