62% FAVOR UNDOCUMENTED TO BECOME CITIZENS

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A recent poll is good news for all of us working to secure legal residency and a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented living in our midst.  Some 62% of those polled believe there should be a path whereby these people can come out of the shadows and become members of our society.

I am reprinting the full commentary on the poll here:


Opposition Declines

By ERICA WERNERand DENNIS JUNIUS
WASHINGTON (AP)— More than 6 in 10 Americans now favor allowing illegal immigrants to eventuallybecome U.S. citizens, a major increase in support driven by a turnaround inRepublicans’ opinions after the 2012 elections.The finding, ina new Associated Press-GfK poll, comes as the Republican Party seeks toincrease its meager support among Latino voters, who turned out in largenumbers to help-re-elect President Barack Obama in November.Emboldened bythe overwhelming Hispanic backing and by shifting attitudes on immigration,Obama has made overhauling laws about who can legally live in the U.S. acenterpiece of his second-term agenda. In the coming weeks, he’s expected toaggressively push for ways to create an eventual pathway to citizenship for theestimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country.The pollresults suggest that the public overall, not just Hispanics, will back hisefforts. Sixty-two percent of Americans now favor providing a way for illegalimmigrants in the U.S. to become citizens, an increase from just 50 percent inthe summer of 2010, the last time the AP polled on the question.In an evenearlier poll, in 2009, some 47 percent supported a pathway to citizenship forillegal immigrants.Furtherboosting the president on the issue, Democrats have opened a 41 percent to 34percent advantage as the party more trusted to handle immigration, the firsttime they’ve held a significant edge on the matter in AP-GfK polling. InOctober 2010, Republicans held a slight edge over Democrats, 46 percent to 41percent, on the question of who was more trusted on immigration.

Much of theincrease in support for a path to eventual citizenship has come amongRepublicans. A majority in the GOP — 53 percent — now favor the change. That’sup a striking 22 percentage points from 2010. Seventy-two percent of Democratsand 55 percent of independents like the idea, similar to 2010.The findingssuggest that those GOP lawmakers weighing support for eventual legal status forillegal immigrants could be rewarded politically not just by Democrats andindependents but also by some in their own party as well. This comes amidsoul-searching in the party about how the GOP can broaden its support withLatinos, who backed Obama over Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, 71percent to 27 percent, in November. Romney received less support from Latinosthan Republican President George W. Bush did. But his slice was on par withcandidates Bob Dole in 1996 and George H.W. Bush in 1992.

SomeRepublicans have concluded that backing comprehensive immigration reform with apathway to citizenship is becoming a political necessity. Many lawmakers remainstrongly opposed, and it’s far from clear whether Congress will ultimately signoff on such an approach. But in the Senate, a bipartisan group of lawmakers isworking to draft immigration legislation, and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., apossible 2016 presidential candidate, has offered proposals that wouldultimately allow illegal immigrants to attain legal status.One pollparticipant, Nick Nanos, 66, of Bellmore, N.Y., said that providing a way forillegal immigrants to become citizens would respect America’s history as anation built by immigrants.

“We act as ifour grandparents got here legally. Don’t want to ask a single Indian aboutthat,” Nanos said in a follow-up interview. “I don’t think that most of us cansolidly come to a point where our grandparents or great-grandparents orgreat-great-grandparents were here legally. What does that even mean?”Overall, 54percent in the poll said immigration is an important issue to them personally,a figure that’s remained steady over the past couple of years.

Republicansaren’t the only group whose views have shifted significantly. In August of2010, just 39 percent of seniors favored a path to citizenship. Now, 55 percentdo. Among those without a college degree, support has increased from 45 percentto 57 percent.And 59 percentof whites now favor a way for illegal immigrants to gain citizenship, up from44 percent in August 2010, and 41 percent in September 2009.

Overall, thepoll found 35 percent strongly favored allowing illegal immigrants to becomecitizens over time, while 27 percent favored the idea somewhat. Just 35 percentof Americans opposed the approach, with 23 percent strongly opposed and 12percent somewhat opposed. That compared with 48 percent opposed in 2010 and 50percent in 2009.The poll alsofound strong support for Obama’s decision, announced last summer, to shield asmany as 800,000 immigrants from deportation with conditions. Those affectedwould have to be younger than 30, would have to have been brought to the U.S.before turning 16 and would have to fulfill certain other conditions includinggraduation from high school or serving in the military. Illegal immigrantscovered by the order now can apply for work permits. The order bypassed Congress,which has not passed “DREAM Act” legislation to achieve some of the same goalsfor younger illegal immigrants.

Sixty-threepercent of Americans favor that policy, while 20 percent oppose it and 17percent are in between or unsure, the poll said. The policy is supported by 76percent of Democrats, significantly more than among Republicans (48 percent) orindependents (59 percent).Cordel Welch,41, of Los Angeles, was among those poll participants who believes illegalimmigrants brought to the country as children should be treated differentlyfrom people who came here as adults.

“The ones thatwere brought here by their parents, they’re already here, they’re alreadyestablished,” Welch said in an interview. “The adults should go through theprocess.”MelissaJohnson, 40, of Porter, Texas, disagreed.

“I think therewere generations of people that came over here legally, and just because yourparents snuck you in or snuck in while pregnant with you doesn’t give youautomatic citizenship,” she said. “I think they should send them all backhome.”The AssociatedPress-GfK Poll was conducted Jan. 10-14, 2013, by GfK Roper Public Affairs andCorporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with1,004 adults nationwide. Results for the full sample have a margin of samplingerror of plus or minus 4 percentage points; the margin is larger for subgroups.