President Barack Obama recently suggested that immigration reform might be on the legislative agenda for early 2010. But, most voters don’t see passage of legislation as likely.

Just 31% say Congress is even somewhat likely to pass legislation to control the borders and reduce illegal immigration. Only 6% say that’s very likely. While voters don’t expect it to pass, 66% consider such legislation Very Important.

The new polling shows that just 26% consider creating a pathway to citizenship Very Important and another 26% consider it Somewhat Important. However, 43% think it’s at least Somewhat Likely Congress will provide such a pathway over the next year. That figure includes 11% who consider such legislation Very Likely.

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Voter preferences are clear, however. By a 70% to 22% margin, voters say that gaining control of the borders is more important than legalizing the status of undocumented workers already in the country.

What is often lost in the shuffle of the debate over immigration reform is that once the borders are controlled, most Americans favor a welcoming immigration policy provided it is done within the law. Republicans are more supportive than Democrats of such a policy. Overall, by a 55% to 27% margin, Americans favor a policy goal that would welcome everyone except criminals, national security threats and welfare dependants.

Also, while nearly a third of Americans are angry about the immigration issue, they are not angry at the immigrants. They are angry at the federal government.

A 2006 Rasmussen Reports summary on the issue noted that the data showed “most Americans recognize that our nation is both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. They want to uphold both aspects of our national heritage. Just as important, they want political leaders to remember the second part of that heritage - that we're a nation of laws.”

Three-out-of-four voters believe that the federal government is not doing enough to secure the nation’s borders. Roughly the same number want cops to check the immigration status of all offenders during traffic stops. Sixty-seven percent (67%) also say that if law enforcement officers know of places where immigrants gather to find work, they should sometimes conduct surprise raids to identify and deport those who are here illegally. On another hot button topic, 77% of voters nationwide oppose drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of voters nationwide say that those who knowingly hire illegal immigrants should be punished. By a 48% to 36% margin, voters say the same about landlords who rent to illegal immigrants.

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