Poll: Most support path to legal status for illegal immigrants

03/17/17 08:17 AM EDT


Nearly two-thirds of Americans say there should be a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants, according to a new poll, and only 26 percent think stopping border crossings should be the top immigration priority.

Sixty percent say a pathway for legal residency should be the government’s immigration priority in the CNN/ORC survey released Friday.

Thirteen percent said deporting illegal immigrants should instead be immigration priority No. 1. One percent had no opinion.

Pollsters report 58 percent worry deportation efforts will go too far by deporting people who have not committed serious crimes, compared to 40 percent who fear deportation efforts would be too lenient, letting dangerous criminals remain in the U.S. untouched. Two percent had no response.

Twenty-seven percent said the government should deport all illegal immigrants, while by 71 percent disagree.

CNN/ORC conducted its survey of 1,025 U.S. adults via cellphone and landline telephone interviews from March 1 to 4. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

President Trump campaigned on stricter immigration policies last year, vowing to step up deportations against criminal illegal immigrants and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump is asking Congress for $1.5 billion this year to begin construction of his long-promised barrier separating the nation from its southern neighbor.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said the money is part of a $30 million supplemental spending request sent to lawmakers on Thursday.

http://thehill.com/homenews/news/324...ation-priority