News that House Republicans plan to hold public hearings on the immigration issue rather than move quickly to negotiate compromise legislation with the Senate confirms a tremendous shift in what passes for conventional wisdom in Washington, DC.

Early in the year, Beltway pundits assumed that “comprehensive” immigration reform would be popular with voters and that the enforcement-first approach would be problematic for the GOP. However, voters have been notably cool towards any approach that focuses on legalizing undocumented workers before enforcing the borders.

At Rasmussen Reports, we gave survey respondents a choice between two immigration bills. "One would improve control of the borders but do nothing about the status of working immigrants who are here illegally. The other would legalize the status of working immigrants who are here illegally but would do nothing to improve control of the border." By a 63% to 19% margin, voters prefer the bill that controls the borders but does nothing about the status of illegal aliens.

One of the more interesting questions raised by this turn of events is how did the nation’s political class so completely misread the issue? One answer may be found in the term “comprehensive reform.” Comprehensive is a great word from a rhetorical point of view and suggests than any competing proposal only addresses part of the problem. “Comprehensive” reform also polls well—a Rasmussen Reports survey found that 52% of voters preferred “comprehensive” solutions over reforms that focused only on controlling the border. Just 30% preferred the alternative. In that context, it makes sense for the President to sell his plan as comprehensive reform.

However, the phrase comprehensive reform probably doesn’t mean the same thing to voters that in means in Congress and the White House. In official Washington, “comprehensive” reform means addressing the issue of undocumented workers and including a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. Among the general public, circumstantial evidence suggests that many poll respondents may have interpreted the word “comprehensive” to mean taking additional steps to reducing illegal immigration in addition to securing the border. Many who say they prefer “comprehensive” solutions respond to other questions in ways that clearly reflect enforcement-first or enforcement-only approaches to reform.

However, while Americans clearly prefer an enforcement first policy, it would be wrong to say that most are opposed to immigrants and immigration. Fifty-three percent (53%) favor a welcoming immigration policy that admits all buy national security threats, criminals, and welfare seekers. That goal is shared by a majority of those who favor an enforcement first policy.

Sixty-one percent (61%) favor an earned citizenship policy approach "that would let illegal aliens eventually become citizens if they pay a fine for entering the country illegally, pay all back taxes, and learn to speak English." Again, those who prefer the enforcement-first approach share the majority view on this question.

Additional data showing that most Americans believe strict enforcement of immigration laws would help the economy. These results are generally similar to earlier surveys on the immigration issue. A separate survey conducted the night of President Bush's speech found that just 27% of Americans believe the country is heading in the right direction.

A look at all of our research on this topic makes it clear that neither political party has yet developed policy or rhetoric that reflect an understanding of the nuances of the immigration debate. We have recently released immigration related polling data on May 3, April 26, April 11, April 7, and April 1.

Earlier surveys on immigration have found support for building a barrier along the Mexican border and positive attitudes towards citizen patrols along the border. Another survey found that most Americans consider current immigration laws a threat to both national security and the economy. Three-fourths of all Americans believe it is too easy for people from other countries to enter the United States.

Attitudes towards immigration do not fall neatly along typical partisan, demographic, or ideological lines. However, in Congress, this may be changing. A majority of Democrats in both the House and Senate voted for the Comprehensive Reform approach favored by the President. A majority of Republicans in both House and Senate rejected the "comprehensive" alternative and favor enforcement first policies.