Voices committed to that vision still exist, but they are increasingly being overwhelmed by the clamor for measures to stem the flow of arrivals, particularly illegal immigrants.

According to a recent Los Angeles Times Poll, these concerns are strong in white and black communities. But they are present even among Latinos, the state's largest immigrant group. In the September survey, Latinos were more likely to see positive contributions from the new arrivals. But even so, only 5% of California Latinos supported an increase in the level of legal immigration, and three-fourths described illegal immigration as a significant problem.

Economic Concerns

Although it draws on traditional concerns, there are also several new twists in the latest turn of anti-immigrant sentiment.

One is that the traditional concern about competition for jobs has been largely overshadowed by a relatively new economic worry: the cost of providing services for immigrants, especially illegal immigrants. Fear of job competition still exists: It ranked second in the Times poll when residents were asked about the principal problems that foreign immigration has caused for the state. But it was far outdistanced by concern over the cost of government services and welfare for immigrants.

The facts on both issues are murky. Studies do not definitively answer the question of whether high levels of immigration hurt U.S. workers. But many analysts point out that those results may not accurately reflect current conditions.

Advocates for immigrants argue that the debate typically overlooks a major point: the benefits to consumers of inexpensive immigrant labor.

"We're going to keep having immigrants come because there is a market for their labor," said Arturo Vargas of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "Every time we go to a salad bar we're willing to pay $2.99 a pound for that produce picked by an agricultural worker. In the garment district, we're willing to pay the low prices."

Nailing down the public costs and benefits to the state of immigrants is not any easier. Illegal immigrants do not qualify for welfare but can receive free emergency and pregnancy-related services at public hospitals. Their children are eligible to attend public schools and, if they are born in the United States, can receive welfare.