When we talk about the politics of immigration reform, often we talk about what the Republican Party's obstruction of reform will mean for it's long-term relationship with the Latino community. What sometimes gets lost in the shuffle is that it's not just Latinos who disagree with the GOP's antipathy towards this nation's immigrants: It's a majority of Americans.
Take Friday's national poll from Quinnipiac University, for example. According to the survey, which was conducted among registered voters from June 28-July 8 and has a margin of error of ±2.2 percent.
Which comes closest to your view about illegal immigrants who are currently living in the United States? A) They should be allowed to stay in the United States and to eventually apply for US citizenship. B) They should be allowed to remain in the United States, but not be allowed to apply for U.S. citizenship. C) They should be required to leave the U.S.
A) Stay with path to citizenship: 54
B) Stay legally, without path: 12
C) Required to leave U.S.: 28
So by more than a 2:1 margin—66 to 28—Americans think the 11 million immigrants living in this country should be given legal resident status. And among those, more than 80 percent support a path to citizenship.
And for all the talk about how the Republican strategy is just to appeal to white voters, let's not forget that most white people disagree with Republican obstruction as well: 63 percent of white voters think undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay in America legally. Just 32 percent think they should be required to leave.
Latinos are even more supportive of legal status—85 percent—but 63 percent is pretty overwhelming. Even among evangelical whites, who are the least supportive of legal status, a majority supports legal status (39 percent favor legal status with a path to citizenship, 12 percent favor legal status without a path).
And perhaps the clearest indication of all of just how out-of-touch the Republican position is, it turns out that a majority of Republicans also support legal status. 41 percent favor legal status with a path to citizenship, 12 percent favor legal status without a path, and 28 percent think undocumented immigrants should be required to leave.
But despite these numbers, a majority of Senate Republicans—and so far a majority of House Republicans—have opposed legislation that would not only grant the legal status that most Americans, and most of their constituents support, it would also include a massive increase in funding for border security. From their perspective, this is the easiest win-win of all time.
But, faced with this golden opportunity to do the right thing, they are blinking. If they don't relent, there's no doubt it will hurt Republicans for years to come with Latinos. But let's not forget that it's not just Latinos that will reject what Republicans are doing, because the public at large—including most Republican voters—favor treating undocumented immigrants with basic human dignity. And on that issue, most Republicans in the House and Senate are on the wrong side.