The majority of Americans still favor a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants, poll shows

A majority of Americans, regardless of their political affiliation, still favor a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a new poll from the Pew Research Center suggests.

Overall, a healthy 72 percent of those surveyed think immigrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S. if requirements are met. There's a sizable difference along party lines, with 87 percent of Democrats agreeing with the statement, compared to 54 percent of Republicans.

Perhaps more notable is the drop-off in Republicans who favor a path to citizenship. Just over two years ago, 61 percent of those who reported a GOP affiliation said there should be a way for undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S. That seven percent decrease likely contributes to the overall national decrease, which dropped from 77 percent to 72 percent between March 2017 and August 2019.

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The poll was conducted between July 22 and Aug. 4 through self-administered web surveys taken by 4,175 randomly selected U.S. adults. The margin of error is 1.9 percentage points.