Via Elise Foley at Huffington Post, we learned of a new poll of 20 GOP House districts, which found strong support for immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship:
A majority of likely voters in 20 Republican-represented swing congressional districts support the broad outlines of comprehensive immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship, according to a poll released on Tuesday.
About three-fourths of respondents in the districts surveyed supported allowing undocumented immigrants to earn eventual citizenship, either with or without border security provisions, according to polling commissioned by pro-reform group FWD.us.
The survey was conducted by Basswood Research and Republican pollster Jon Lerner on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3. The pollsters spoke to likely general election voters in 20 swing districts currently represented by Republicans in Congress. The districts included those represented by Reps. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) and David Valadao (R-Calif.), two of the three GOP members backing a comprehensive immigration reform bill introduced by House Democrats. Most of the others representing the districts that were surveyed are being targeted as potential “yes” votes for immigration, including Reps. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) and Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.).
These polls and many others confirm that support from the public is there for reform. The votes exist in the House to pass it. We need some leadership — and some courage — from Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor and Majority Whip McCarthy. If they won’t do it because it’s the right thing to do — and it is — they should do it for the survival of their party.
Check out ImmigrationPower.com for background on the 40 GOP House members whose futures could be determined by the Republican House leadership’s decision on whether to move forward on immigration reform.
