Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters nationwide favor cutting off federal funds for “sanctuary cities” that offer protection to illegal immigrants. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 29% are opposed. Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney proposed such a plan earlier this week.

By a 71% to 16% margin, voters also favor a proposal that would require all foreign visitors to carry a universal identification card as proposed by another GOP Presidential hopeful, Rudy Giuliani. Seventy-four percent (74%) also favor the creation and funding of a central database to track all foreign visitors in the United States.

By a 56% to 31% margin, voters want the government to continue building a fence along the Mexican border.

Immigration has already played an important role in Election 2008 by severely damaging the campaign of Arizona Senator John McCain. McCain aligned himself with President Bush and strongly backed the unpopular Senate immigration bill debated in June. Eventually, the President, McCain, and the Senate surrendered to the American people and shelved the “comprehensive” reform plan.

Now, Romney and Giuliani are trading barbs on the issue and hoping to gain further advantage in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination. Romney leads in polling for the New Hampshire Primary while Giuliani leads in the national polls and in Florida.

A quick look at the opinions of Republican voters makes it easy to understand why Romney and Giuliani are so eager to engage on this issue. Seventy-three percent (73%) of GOP voters favor cutting off funds for sanctuary cities and 75% want the government to keep building the border fence. Eighty-one percent (81%) favor a universal identification card for foreign visitors and 88% of the GOP faithful support a central database to track all foreign visitors.

By a 58% to 33% margin, Republican voters also agree with Giuliani’s assertion that it’s possible to end illegal immigration. Democrats and unaffiliated voters are evenly divided on that question.

A recent survey found that 79% of voters favor strict measures requiring employers to fire workers who provide false identification documents. Seventy-four percent (74%) also believe that proper identification should be required for anyone to rent an apartment.

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