New poll shows 'sea change' in Californians' attitudes toward illegal immigration

The San Jose Mercury reports:

In a dramatic turnaround from 16 years ago, Californians now overwhelmingly favor giving illegal immigrants a "path to legalization" rather than punishing them by denying them a public education and social services, according to a poll unveiled Monday.

The survey of 1,515 registered voters showed that 67 percent of Californians support a two-pronged approach to solving the illegal immigration problem: implementing stronger enforcement at the border while setting up a legalization path for undocumented immigrants who admit they broke the law, perform community service, learn English and pay fines and back taxes.