Los Angeles ? Repeated clashes over illegal immigration have marked California’s political races for years, but a new Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll found that voters hold positive views about immigrants overall and favor accommodating illegal immigrants who have held down jobs in the state.

Asked whether immigrants represented a benefit or a burden to the state, 48 percent of voters likely to cast ballots in November said they were a benefit, and 36 percent said they strongly held that view.

Only 32 percent said immigrants overall were a burden to California because of their impact on public services, and only 22 percent felt that way strongly.

Separately, 59 percent of likely voters said that an illegal immigrant who had lived and worked in the United States for at least two years should be allowed to remain here if discovered. More than 2 in 5 voters said they felt strongly that such an option should be available. Only 30 percent of likely voters thought the illegal immigrant should be deported, and only 19 percent backed that option strongly.

But views varied widely by political persuasion and age.

Liberals were most supportive of immigrants legal and illegal, with 75 percent saying immigrants were a benefit and 81 percent saying that working illegal immigrants should be able to keep their jobs. Voters under 45 agreed, with 59 percent saying immigrants were beneficial and 68 percent calling for illegal immigrants to keep their jobs rather than be deported.

Among conservative likely voters, 52 percent felt immigrants were a burden and 25 percent said they were a benefit. Conservatives were the only group that leaned more toward deportation — by a narrow 2 percentage point margin.

Voters over 65 were more split, with 41 percent citing immigrants as a benefit and 36 percent as a burden.