Nearly two-thirds of Republican voters — 64 percent — support a path to citizenship for immigrants who have lived in the United States for at least 10 years, pay taxes and pass a background check, according to a new national survey reported by the Washington Examiner, a conservative publication.
Support among all voters was 79 percent.
The figures come from an October survey of 1,000 registered voters conducted by Wave Polling and Research between Sept. 30 and Oct. 5, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points, according to the firm’s published results and the Examiner.
Backing for the citizenship path was 94 percent among Democrats, 73 percent among independents and 64 percent among Republicans. Thirty-five percent of voters supported deporting all immigrants in the country without legal status, and 12 percent said there should be no path to citizenship at all.
Support held up when respondents were shown arguments against the policy. After hearing an attack that called it “amnesty,” backing fell 16 points but remained a majority; among those who heard only the attack and no rebuttal, support stood at 74 percent in favor to 22 percent opposed, the firm found. “A supermajority of the country is still in favor of the path to citizenship, according to our poll,” said G. Elliott Morris, chief executive of Wave Polling and Research and a former head of ABC News’s FiveThirtyEight, in remarks reported by the Examiner.
The survey’s criteria apply to many Haitian immigrants. Haiti was first designated for Temporary Protected Status in January 2010, after the earthquake that killed tens of thousands, and the designation was renewed repeatedly for more than a decade. Haitians who have held TPS since then have lived in the United States for about 15 years, with work authorization that requires them to pay taxes — the length of residence and the tax record the surveyed voters were asked about.
The survey also asked voters to rank 14 immigration priorities for the next Congress.
Deporting immigrants convicted of a violent crime ranked first, followed by investigations into ICE officers who have shot immigrants and citizens, investigations of detention centers where people have died, and a citizenship path for longtime immigrants, the Examiner reported. Investigations into ICE drew 77 percent support nationally, and investigations into detention-contract corruption drew 68 percent.
In the firm’s state polling, a path to citizenship ranked as the second-highest priority among 1,030 Florida voters and the third-highest among 502 Pennsylvania voters, behind deporting immigrants convicted of violent crimes, the Examiner reported.
Morris said the results pointed to a change in partisan trust on immigration. Republicans are “drawing even with the Democrats on trust to handle immigration,” he said — an advantage he said Democrats had held for at least a decade — and disapproval of the president’s handling of deportations had been negative throughout the year, according to the Examiner.
Legislation offering legal status to longtime immigrants has not advanced.
The Dignity Act, introduced by Rep. María Elvira Salazar, a Florida Republican, would grant renewable legal status rather than a direct path to citizenship; the GOP has largely rejected it, the Examiner reported. No measure specific to Haitian TPS holders has been enacted. Other polling has found comparable national support: Gallup reported in June 2025 that 78 percent of Americans, including 59 percent of Republicans, backed a path to citizenship.
https://ctninfo.com/64-of-republican…out-legal-status/
Source: The Washington Examiner
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