Around 66% of Republican voters are in favor of immigration reform, which includes offering a pathway to US citizenship to the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States. In the waiting period that would most likely last for several years, illegal immigrants would be given legal status as well as a green card and would be expected to learn English, pay back taxes and fines and remain free of any kind of criminal record, a survey of 500 potential Republican voters by John McLaughlin and Associates has revealed.
Only around 30% of the expected Republican voters were against immigration reform, with the poll taking place between February 25th and February 28th. “When Republicans are told of the bill introduced by Senator Marco Rubio, support swells to 75-17,” says McLaughlin & Associates.
Rubio has taken the lead in recent months to help steer the troubled Republican Party’s efforts to help with the creation of a comprehensive plan for immigration reform that would grant legal status to the 11 million undocumented immigrants estimated to be living and working in the United States.
Seventy-one percent of the Hispanic vote in last year’s elections went to President Barack Obama, and Rubio is now thought to be the Republican Party’s best chance of winning over Hispanic voters. Around 38.8% of Republican voters altered their position to support immigration reform when told about the plan outlined by Rubio.