Poll: Two-thirds of Republicans back citizenship for DACA recipients
About two-thirds of Republicans support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, according to a new poll.
The latest Harvard-Harris survey found broad support for a pathway to citizenship for everyone in the country illegally, providing certain conditions are met. And
by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, Republicans say that young immigrants brought to the country through no fault of their own should be shielded from deportation.
Overall, 77 percent of voters — and 66 percent of Republicans — favor a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally if they learn English, pay fines or back taxes and have jobs that pay taxes.
On the question of DACA — the Obama-era program that protects an estimated 800,000 people from deportation —
77 percent of all voters and 65 percent of Republicans say they favor work permits and a path to citizenship.
Earlier this month, President Trump infuriated the left and thrilled his supporters by announcing he would phase out the DACA program. Voters are split 50-50 along partisan lines over Trump’s announced six-month phaseout.
The president has long wrestled with the issue, acknowledging that there is a human element in determining what to do with young people who have established lives in the U.S. since being brought here illegally.
Trump has expressed hope that Congress can find a legislative solution.
Eighty percent of voters say DACA should be settled through an act of Congress, as Trump seeks, rather than by executive order, which is how it was originally implemented by former President Barack Obama.
After visiting with Trump last week, Democratic leaders Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said they believed they’d struck a deal with Trump on DACA, although the White House has sought to tamp down that talk.
Immigration hawks on the right and some of Trump’s allies, like Breitbart News, are furious with the president for dealing with Democrats and backtracking on the issue. They say Trump gave away his greatest bargaining chip in the effort to secure funding for a border wall.
The
White House has said any potential DACA bill does not have to be tied to border wall funding, though other border security measures would likely need to be included.
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