Poll: GOP Struggles on Immigration

Politico

By Jonathan Topaz

September 23, 2014

Poll: GOP struggles on immigration 

Republicans are unhappy with their party’s handling of illegal immigration, a new poll says.

According to a Pew Research poll released Tuesday, 37 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters believe the GOP does a good job representing their views on illegal immigration, while 56 percent say the party does not do a good job. Thirty-three percent of Republicans say the GOP has been too willing to allow undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. to achieve legal status, with just 18 percent saying the party hasn’t been willing enough.

Older Republicans are particularly unhappy — 60 percent of those 35 and older do not think the GOP has done a good job representing their views on immigration.

The survey comes after Congress left for a five-week August recess without agreeing on legislation to address the buildup of Central American undocumented children along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Senate passed a comprehensive immigration bill in June 2013, but the House has not acted on the legislation.

Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters give their party higher marks on illegal immigration, with 47 percent saying it does a good job representing their views on illegal immigration, compared with 44 percent disagree.

But Hispanic Democrats — seen as a key constituency in the U.S., particularly in national elections — remain far less happy with the party on immigration. A plurality of Hispanic Democrats — 52 percent — say the Democratic Party is not doing a good job representing their views on illegal immigrations, while 45 percent say it is doing a good job. Earlier this month, President Barack Obama announced he would delay executive action on immigration until after the November midterm elections, a decision immigration rights’ groups largely panned by arguing it put politics over principle.

Immigration groups have long had a tenuous relationship with the White House. Many harshly criticized Obama for failing to act on immigration in his first year and increasing deportations, while groups praised his 2012 executive order to allow hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants to stay in the country without the threat of deportation.

The survey was conducted September 2-19 with 863 Republican-leaning voters and 913 Democratic-leaning voters.

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