Most Americans favor allowing certain immigrants to stay in the US illegally, survey shows

WASHINGTON — Most Americans favor a means of allowing immigrants to stay illegally in the country under certain conditions, a new Pew Research Center survey shows.

Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed mass deportations, notably oppose any such allowances by a 2:1 margin, according to survey results. However, survey respondents, overall, favor some sort of pathway to legal residency by a 64% to 35% split, even as security at the U.S.-Mexico border is a concern for many and Trump vows to crack down on the presence of anyone in the United States illegally.

"Americans hold complex views on what should happen to undocumented immigrants," reads a Pew report on the survey, released Nov. 22. "Many Americans support both deportation and having a path to legal status. Among those who support mass deportations, 43% also say undocumented immigrants should have a way to stay in the country legally."

Here are some of the survey results:

• Among those favoring a means of allowing people who are already in the country illegally to attain some sort of legal status, 79% say migrants should first have to pass a security check. Around 52% say they should have a job, 25% say they should pay a fine and 15% say they should have come to the United States as a child.
• Among those opposing the creation of pathways to legal status, 86% said undocumented immigrants shouldn't be rewarded for illegally entering the country or staying here in violation of U.S. law. A similarly large share, 81%, said it's unfair to create pathways for those here illegally, while 76% said immigrants here illegally take resources away from U.S. citizens.
• While supporters of Trump, a Republican, oppose any pathway to residency or legal status by a 66% to 33% split, backers of Kamala Harris, the Democratic hopeful in the recent U.S. presidential vote, favor a mechanism by an 87% to 12% margin.
• The share of Americans who think immigrants in the country illegally should be able to stay under certain circumstances, now 64%, has decreased since 2020, when the figure was 75%. The share who think they shouldn't be able to stay has increased to 35% from 24% in the span.
• Majorities by race favor some sort of pathway, though the margins vary. Hispanic respondents show 79% support to 20%; Black people, 73% to 25%; Asian people, 72% to 28%; and white people, 57% to 42%.

Former President Barack Obama, most notably, created a means for immigrants brought to the country illegally by their parents to lawfully remain and work in the country: the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The future of the initiative, which Trump sought to eliminate during his first term as president, is now the focus of a federal court challenge.

As of 2022, Pew estimates 36.9 million immigrants were in the country lawfully and 11 million were here illegally. Polling for the report was conducted in August.

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