The vast majority of voters believe immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children should be permitted to remain in the U.S. and eventually apply for citizenship, according to a new poll.
The Quinnipiac University National Poll found that 79 percent of those polled believe those people, called Dreamers, should be allowed to stay and apply to become citizens. Seven percent think Dreamers should be allowed to stay in the U.S., but shouldn’t be permitted to apply for citizenship.
And just 11 percent of voters don’t believe Dreamers should be able to remain in the country at all and should be required to leave.
Among voters who identify as Republicans, 64 percent think Dreamers should be allowed to stay in the U.S. and then apply for citizenship, compared to 20 percent who don't believe they should be able to remain in the country at all.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, started unilaterally by former President Barack Obama, protected hundreds of thousands of those immigrants. But President Trump has said the DACA program will soon be rescinded, and gave Congress until March to pass legislation addressing Dreamers.
Lawmakers are currently debating a deal on DACA, and Trump has demanded any such agreement include funding to build a border wall across U.S.-Mexico border.
Quinnipiac University polled 1,106 voters from Jan. 5 to Jan. 9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
