Over the past three election cycles, immigration has been at the forefront as one of the most critical wedge issues. This is unsurprising given that it goes straight to questions about America’s identity, laws and economy.
But those fights among political leaders and advocates have distracted from something that may surprise some: The American public actually has substantial agreement on what immigration reform should look like.
My colleagues and I at the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation (PPC) have been studying public opinion on immigration policy for years. Most recently, we have surveyed Americans nationally and in 11 states and 28 House districts with competitive races in November’s midterm elections. What we found
challenges the conventional wisdom that Republicans and Democrats are far apart on how to address immigration.
On proposal after proposal – related to deportation, pathways to legal status, employment of undocumented immigrants, visas and asylum – clear majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agreed on what the government should be doing.
These proposals all come from congressional legislation that has been put forward, often repeatedly, over the past 15 years. But the last time Congress came close to enacting immigration reforms was in 2013, when the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” attempted to pass a comprehensive bill.
In the 13 years since, no systemic reform has come close to passing Congress.
Americans support legal status for some, and deportation for criminals
Americans clearly see a problem with having so many people living in the United States without legal status.
But they are less interested in an amnesty-versus-mass-deportation binary than in creating some important distinctions: whether someone has a criminal record, and how long they have been here.
Very large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agree that if an undocumented immigrant has committed a crime, the government should work to deport them.
But for the millions of undocumented immigrants who have no criminal record, and who have lived in the United States for years, large bipartisan majorities favor offering them a pathway to legal residency if they pay a penalty and any taxes owed. And for undocumented immigrants who were brought here illegally as children – often called “Dreamers” – support runs even higher for offering them a pathway to citizenship.
Support for deporting undocumented immigrants convicted of a crime:
- Nationally – 79% of Democrats; 94% of Republicans.
- Competitive states and districts – 70-91% of Democrats; 85-98% of Republicans.
Support for a path to legal status for long-term undocumented residents with no criminal record:
- Nationally – 84% of Democrats; 69% of Republicans.
- Competitive states and districts – 75-89% of Democrats; 55-78% of Republicans.
Support for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children:
- Nationally – 89% of Democrats; 76% of Republicans.
- Competitive states and districts – 80-95% of Democrats; 60-82% of Republicans.
Americans want to steer migrant workers into the legal system
Perhaps nothing draws more bipartisan agreement among the public than how to reduce illegal immigration going forward.
We asked Americans about a two-part proposal. The first part is aimed at deterring people from coming to the United States illegally for work by requiring employers to verify new hires’ legal status using the E-Verify system.
The second part is to increase the number of work visas to match labor demand, to help ensure that the reduction in the illegal workforce caused by the E-Verify requirement is offset by an increase in the legal workforce.
Overwhelming majorities of Republicans and Democrats alike support that approach.
Support for requiring employers to use E-Verify, and increasing the number of work visas:
- Nationally – 84% of Democrats; 82% of Republicans.
- Competitive states and districts – 75-90% of Democrats; 67-89% of Republicans.
Most Americans want more judges to speed up asylum cases
The backlog in U.S. immigration courts means asylum seekers often wait years for a hearing, all while they remain in here in a legal limbo. Americans do not like this.
Some see this as an unfair position to put people escaping violence and persecution. Others see the yearslong wait time in the United States as an incentive for people to falsely claim asylum.
When presented with a proposal to significantly speed up that process by hiring several hundred more immigration judges and staff, majorities of Republicans and Democrats alike supported it.
Support for hiring more immigration judges to reduce asylum wait times:
- Nationally – 83% of Democrats; 73% of Republicans.
- Competitive states and districts – 72-87% of Democrats; 66-83% of Republicans.
Americans don’t oppose immigration. They oppose a disorderly system
No matter their politics, nearly all Americans agree that our immigration system needs reforming. They don’t like that there are so many people living and working here without any legal status. They want a system that is more orderly and controlled.
When presented with dramatic proposals to try to get everything under control – a 30-foot border wall and mass deportation – some respond positively. But those proposals have rarely gotten Americans’ bipartisan majority support.
Fortunately for our lawmakers, there are proposals that do receive broad bipartisan support, both nationally and across states and congressional districts where control of Congress may be decided this fall.
For years, Washington has treated immigration as a problem for which agreement is nearly impossible. Our findings show otherwise. Common ground already exists among the American people.
The question is whether their elected representatives will act on it.
Steven Kull is director of the University of Maryland's Program for Public Consultation (PPC), a nonpartisan research center affiliated with the School of Public Policy. Evan Charles Lewitus is a social science researcher and associate director of the PPC.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Americans want immigration reform. Congress should take note | Opinion
