US poll on immigration shows rural-urban split and similarities

Washington

AN insurance salesman in rural Louisiana worries that immigration will sink the United States further into debt. In the Ohio countryside, a father of five says immigrants lower wages. But in New Orleans, a lifelong urbanite credits immigrants with rebuilding her hurricane-scarred neighbourhood.

A Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation survey of nearly 1,700 Americans - including more than 1,000 in rural areas - reveals that attitudes towards immigrants form one of the widest gulfs between US cities and rural communities.