As the White House and Congress craft immigration reform bills, for the first time it appears they have a majority of the public on their side: 51 percent of Americans now say they are in support of illegal immigrants being able to stay in the country and apply for citizenship, according to a new CBS poll.
An additional 20 percent of the poll respondents say they should be able to stay only as guest workers. Just 25 percent say they should be required to leave the country.
The poll showed that the American hostility toward illegal immigrants has decreased considerably, across all political persuasions. Among Democrats, nearly 67 percent support giving illegal immigrants the chance to stay and apply for citizenship, while a third of Republicans support that idea. The breakdown along racial lines is as expected — 67 percent of nonwhites back citizenship, while 46 of whites do. Younger Americans are also more likely to support citizenship than older Americans.
Most fascinating, support for citizenship has jumped among all groups since September 2o11. Among Democrats, support for citizenship has gone up 15 points since September 2011 while among Republicans it has risen from 24 percent in 2011 to 35 percent now.
This is great news for Washington lawmakers, as Obama and Congress are falling over each other to see who can be the first to propose sweeping immigration reform — an issue that had no real enthusiasm in Congress or the White House just a year ago. But after Hispanic support of over 70 percent helped usher Obama back into the White House, he is eager to return the favor, while many Republicans now realize they must change in order to have a shot at the presidency.
The poll numbers come as reports emerged yesterday of a bipartisan group of Senators meeting regularly since the November election that is planning to announce reform legislation this week. The Republican members of the group readily admit that Obama’s reelection demonstrated that the GOP needs to make efforts to court the Hispanic population to help the party win future elections.
“What’s changed is, honestly, is that there is a new, I think, appreciation on both sides of the aisle — including, maybe more importantly on the Republican side of the aisle, that we have to enact a comprehensive immigration reform bill,” said one of the group members, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who also tried to push through immigration reform in 2008 before his losing presidential bid.
The four major elements of the Senate group’s discussions, according to The New York Times, are border enforcement, employer enforcement, handling the future flow of legal immigration (including temporary agriculture workers and high-skilled engineers) and a pathway to citizenship for those who entered the nation illegally.
The Times said Obama’s approach is expected to echo his 2011 immigration “blueprint,” calling for a pathway to citizenship for the more than 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country that includes paying fines and back taxes; increased border security; mandatory penalties for businesses that employ unauthorized immigrants; and improvements to the legal immigration system, including giving green cards to high-skilled workers and lifting caps on legal immigration for the immediate family members of U.S. citizens.
Obama met on Friday with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and said immigration reform was “a top legislative priority.”
