Emerging consensus on immigration
Dec 4, 2013, 8:15 AM | Updated: 8:16 am
A new survey by the nonpartisan Public Religion Institute shows growing consensus on immigration, even as Congress stalls on reform. A stunning 77 percent support a path to legal residency or citizenship for immigrants currently living in the U.S. illegally. Sixty percent of Republicans and 73 percent of Democrats back pathways to citizenship. Only 18 percent of voters endorsed “tough enforcement strategies to identify and deport” illegals.
Meanwhile, seven in ten said the 13-year-wait for citizenship under the reform bill passed by the Senate was “too long” and another 24 percent called it “just right.” Less than five percent wanted the undocumented to wait even longer. With numbers like these, it’s obvious we’ll get sweeping immigration reform sooner or later. The question for conservatives is whether we’ll play a constructive role in shaping it, or marginalize our movement by fighting all changes