As viewed through a fisheye lens, a banner to welcome immigrants hangs over the main entrance to the Denver City/County Building Monday, February 26, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
A new Pew poll released on Wednesday said that 75 percent of American favored a pathway to permanent status for the country’s undocumented population, with Democrats and Latinos showing the highest levels of support.
Pew asked the following question in the poll: “Which comes closer to your view about how to handle undocumented immigrants who are now living in the U.S.?”
Respondents were given three choices:
- “They should not be allowed to stay in the country legally.”
- “There should be a way for them to stay in the country legally, if certain requirements are met.”
- “No answer.”
According to Pew’s poll, 75 percent of Americans chose answer 2. Among Democrats or those who lean Democrat, that number increased to 89 percent. Among Latinos, the overall support was at 87 percent, with foreign-born Latino support at 94 percent and U.S.-born Latino support at 82 percent.
Pew also noted that Republican support was at 57 percent, a number that didn’t really change much from August 2019. In addition support was at 81 percent among Black Americans, 76 percent among Asian Americans and 70 percent among White Americans.
“The number of undocumented, or unauthorized, immigrants living in the U.S. stood at 10.5 million in 2017, down from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007, according to Pew Research Center estimates. Just under half of the nation’s unauthorized immigrants are from Mexico,” Pew noted.
Similar Support for DREAMers
The same poll said that 74 percent of Americans favor granting permanent status to DREAMers. According to Pew, 91 percent of Democrats and 88 percent of Latinos favored taking such action.
The Pew poll also showed support from 54 percent of Republicans with 43 percent opposing.
Besides Latinos, Black Americans favored passing a law for DREAMers by 82 percent. Asian Americans showed 72 percent and White Americans showed 69 percent support.
The Supreme Court is currently deciding on the future Deferred Action to Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. An decision could happen as early as Thursday.
