Poll: More align with Dems than GOP on immigration reform

{mosads}Republicans had an edge among non-Hispanic whites, with 42 percent support to the Democrats with 41 percent. 

Among minority groups, however, the Democrats hold favor. Seventy percent of blacks said the Democratic Party’s views on immigration were in line with theirs to 14 percent who picked the GOP. Hispanics broke 60 percent to 26 percent for the Democrats. 

Independent voters were divided between the two parties, with 37 percent aligning with the Democrats and 35 percent with the GOP. Twenty-eight percent said neither party came close to their views.

Most Democratic voters — 61 percent — said that the priority for immigration reform should be “dealing with immigrants currently in the country, while 32 percent said the focus should be on “halting the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S.”

Fifty percent of Republican voters said the priority should be halting further illegal immigration, with 25 percent wanting reform to focus on dealing with immigrants already in the country.

The survey comes a month after the Senate passed a bipartisan immigration overhaul, which would create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants and enforce tougher border security measures.

The debate now shifts to the House, where Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said the Senate bill is dead on arrival. Boehner intends to push House legislation and has said any bill must have the support of a majority of the GOP conference.

Immigration reform advocates fear that could stall legislation in the House, where many conservatives oppose a citizenship pathway and want greater border security to be a priority.

The Gallup poll was conducted from June 13 to July 5 and has a 2-point margin of error.