49% of Texans Oppose Civilian Minutemen Groups; 47% Support Them

The poll was conducted between Nov. 14 and Nov. 30. It surveyed 1,000 adult Texans by telephone in a random sample of active telephone exchanges statewide. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.

Forty-seven percent agree with the practice and 49 percent oppose it. More clearly, 79 percent of Texans believe the government is not doing enough to stop unauthorized immigration from Mexico, up 21 percentage points from just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and up 10 points from February 2004.

On the broader issue of the seriousness of unauthorized immigration from Mexico, 84 percent of Texans said it is a very serious or somewhat serious problem, 15 percent said it was not very serious or not serious at all and 1 percent did not know.

The ethnic group represented most heavily in the poll was Anglos, at 67 percent. Hispanics made up 21 percent of the sample. Statewide, Hispanics make up 43 percent of the population, according to the U.S. Census. Regionally, North Texans made up 34 percent of the poll's respondents and South Texans made up 17 percent.

Read the rest of the story from the Corpus Christi Caller.