Plan B Forum

Republican voters change their minds about a path to citizenship
By Max Ehrenfreund December 3 at 8:25 AM
These people protesting illegal immigration now represent the majority of Republicans. (AP/Steven Senne)


New polling shows a major shift in public opinion following Obama's decision to delay deportations for some undocumented immigrants.

A year ago, Quinnipiac University polls show, Republican voters narrowly supported a path to citizenship over deportation, by 43 percent to 38 percent. Now, support for a path to citizenship has evaporated among Republicans, declining to 27 percent. Fully 54 percent support deportation, while another 15 percent say that undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay but should not be allowed to become citizens.

Paul Waldman sees these polls as evidence that Republicans take their position from talking heads on television. When the right-wing media machine is firing on all cylinders, he writes, its audiences will believe anything.

At the same time, G.O.P. political strategists and conservative economists are probably also concerned about the Quinnipiac polls. The numbers show a party drifting toward an anti-immigration position that could harm the party's chances of winning the presidency.

It's too early to tell whether the shift toward deportations among Republicans is just a fluke that will disappear as tempers cool, or something more fundamental, but the answer probably depends on the party's leaders. If Republican politicians want to make a case to their constituents for comprehensive immigration reform sometime soon, and if they're able to speak with more or less one voice on the issue, they'll still find a sympathetic audience.