Wall Street Journal
By Laura Meckler
August 3, 2015
A
majority of Republicans support some sort of legal status for people in
the U.S. illegally, amid heavy campaigning against illegal immigration
by many GOP presidential
candidates, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.
Poll
participants were given three options for policy regarding illegal
immigrants living in the U.S. Among Republicans surveyed, the poll found
36% support a pathway
that eventually allows people in the U.S. illegally to become citizens,
and 17% favoring a legal status short of citizenship, for a total of
53%.
It found 43% of Republicans saying the U.S. should work to find and deport people who have come to the U.S. illegally.
Among
all adults, support for a path to citizenship was the most popular
choice, even when respondents were given the chance to choose legal
status instead. The poll found
that 47% of all adults support a pathway to citizenship. Another 17%
support giving this group the right to a legal status short of citizenship, meaning a total of 64% support some sort of legal status.
By contrast, 32% of all adults said they should be deported.
Past
WSJ/NBC polls haven’t given respondents the option to choose between citizenship and legal status, in addition to deportation, and it is
notable that even with three
options, citizenship is still by far the most popular among all voters.
An
estimated 11 million people are living in the U.S. illegally, and
debate continues over how to handle them. Democrats including the
party’s presidential candidates
favor a path to citizenship, which requires congressional approval.
Short of them, the party has rallied around President Barack Obama’s
move to use executive action to grant millions of undocumented
immigrants a temporary reprieve from deportation and work
permits.
Some
prominent Republicans support legal status — and some even support citizenship — but many others do not, calling it unfair amnesty for
lawbreakers. The party is united
against the Obama executive action, which they charge exceeded his
authority. It is currently being challenged in court.
Most
of the GOP presidential candidates oppose legal status for illegal
immigrants, and Donald Trump, who leads recent national polls, has
loudly voiced his support for
deportations. Two exceptions in the field: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
once supported a citizenship path but now backs a more limited legal
status, while Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina backs the citizenship option.
The
WSJ/NBC poll of 1,000 adults was conducted July 26-30. The margin of
error for the entire sample was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The
margin of error for the
252 Republicans surveyed was plus or minus 6.2 points.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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