Posted on 10/09/2015 7:19:49 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Every few months Pew cranks out a poll showing GOPers surprisingly warm to the idea of letting illegals stay, and every few months we scratch our heads and try to make sense of the numbers. I gave it my best shot back in June, the last time they surveyed this issue. Ask Republicans about various aspects of immigration and on most them you’ll see just the sort of border hawkishness you’d expect. They think that legal status for illegals rewards wrongdoing; they think immigrants are more likely to burden the country than benefit it; and a plurality would prefer to see legal immigration reduced than kept at the same levels or increased. Same deal with today’s poll: A clear majority of 53 percent of GOPers support ending birthright citizenship and fully 73 percent want a wall built on the border with Mexico (up from 62 percent in 2011). By comparison, just 23 and 29 percent of Democrats, respectively, agree. Republicans are exactly the sort of border enforcers we thought they were, and they’ve remained solidly so despite Dems weakening on enforcement over time. Democrats are 10 points less likely to say they want a border fence than they were in 2007 and 13 points less likely to support ending birthright citizenship.
The parties are, in order words, highly polarized. Except, oddly enough, on the most basic question related to amnesty.
Thirty-seven percent of Republicans are willing to give illegals a path to citizenship and another 28 percent are willing to give them a path to permanent residency provided that they meet “certain requirements,” which usually means learning to speak English and paying back taxes. Even among self-described conservative Republicans, 61 percent are willing to let them stay permanently by some legal mechanism. That is … not what you’d expect, especially after the eruption of Trumpmania. In fact, here’s the most amazing number from Pew’s poll today:
Republicans are more likely to support amnesty post-Trump than they were before he got in. Huh. Maybe that’s statistical noise or maybe some Republican centrists are moving further towards the center on immigration as a backlash to Trump, whether because they object to his “deport everyone” rhetoric or because they’re worried about the party’s image with Latino voters and are hoping that the Republican Congress corrects for it with legislation. Or maybe some element of GOPers has simply given up and resigned itself to an ever leftward political drift in the U.S. Here’s a depressing result in another poll out today, from YouGov, when people are asked whether they think America will be more liberal or more conservative in 25 years. Top line is “more liberal,” second line is “about the same,” third line is “more conservative”:
Republicans are more likely to think the country will grow more liberal than Democrats are. Gulp.
The one consolatory detail in the Pew data on amnesty is that it doesn’t necessarily mean Republicans would agree to legal status in isolation. They almost certainly wouldn’t. If there really is 66 percent support on the right for legal status, most of it is likely would require better border security as a prerequisite. It’d be nice if Pew polled that question too next time.
Yeah..great poll..no wonder Trump is doing so well../s
Yeah right! We’re all up in arms over a road improvement bill we don’t like NOT illegal immigration - “Nothing to see here folks move along.”
Obvious use of bandwagon propaganda technique.
AllahPundit eager to push a Pew push poll to redeem his own amnesty support, the slimy SOB.
There is a huge difference.
There is at least as big a difference in opinion as to what those "certain requirements" should be.
I believe that Trump's approach of "Deport Everyone" with the implied exception for those who can prove they are assets to this country is a far better choice than the status quo.
The status quo is eventual amnesty for everyone, deport nobody and put the onus on a corrupt open borders biased legal system to prove the exceptions which shouldn't qualify.
A poll of the GOPe?
Yep....I personally don’t know ONE Republican who favors legal status for illegals.
More phony polls, next they will be quoting Lundz.
They are already legal citizens of their home countries. Are we supposed to offer them all dual citizenship?
And the #1 requirement is they come here legally.
The only relevant question is who commissioned the poll.
Would be interesting to see how they worded the questions to get that “result.”
This poll is based on anyone answering the phone in the US, so on the immigration question you have to adjust the results by 10 percentage points right off the bat.
1. That they bring enough money to support themselves for 5 years
These people are not real Republicans.
Complete BS.
The citizens want the laws enforced, illegals deported and the borders secured so they can’t get back in.
By calling them “immigrants,” they immediately skew the results of this so-called poll.
Call them illegal alien invaders, and the result of this “poll” would be vastly different.
Finish the WALL. Then we can discuss who stays and who goes.
If I lived in a craphole like Mexico or Guatemala I’d probably try to get here too. It’s not right, but it’s understandable.
RE: Finish the WALL. Then we can discuss who stays and who goes.
This is Ted Cruz’s and Mark Levin’s plan in a nutshell as well.
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