4 out of 5 Americans Support Dreamers, Including Strong Majorities of Republicans
Americans overwhelmingly support Dreamers and DACA according to poll after poll. While question wording differs slightly, polls are remarkably consistent in finding that approximately 4 out of 5 Americans, including a strong majority of Republicans, support Dreamers:
- By 78-12%, Americans want Dreamers to stay and receive legal status (Politico/Morning Consult, June 2020.) 78% combined support for Dreamers staying with 61% backing Dreamers’ citizenship and an additional 17% supporting permanent legal status short of citizenship, while 12% support removal or deportation. The support for Dreamers staying includes 71% of conservatives, 69% of Trump 2016 voters, 68% of Republicans, and 64% of those giving Trump positive approval ratings.
- By 74-24%, Americans support Congress passing a law granting permanent legal status to Dreamers (Pew Research, June 2020). This includes 91% of Democrats/Democrat leaning respondents and 54% of Republicans/Republican leaners.
- By 85-13%, Americans support Dreamers (CBS News, June 2020). When asked, “do you favor or oppose allowing young immigrants who were brought to the US illegally as children to remain in the country if they meet certain requirements such as going to school or joining the military, and not having a criminal record?” By a 85-13% margin, the public overwhelmingly backs Dreamers, including 95% of Democrats, 84% of Independents, and 73% of Republicans.
- By 70-21%, Americans support DACA and strongly support legislative fix by similar margins (Hart Research/CAP Action, April 2020). The 70-21% margin overall support for DACA includes 82% of Democrats, 60% of Independents, and 61% of Republicans. Meanwhile, if the Supreme Court rules against DACA, 72% of Americans overall – including 85% of Biden voters and 56% of Trump supporters – want President Trump to temporarily continue DACA until Congress can pass a legislative solution.
- By 73-24% margin, Americans support Dreamers’ legalization (Fox News, June 2019). The support includes 58% of Republicans.
- By a 4:1 margin, 77-18%, Americans support citizenship for Dreamers (Global Strategy Group/FWD.us, May 2019). The 77% support overall includes 90% of Democrats, 71% of independents, and 64% of Republicans.
- At least 80% of Americans support policies keeping Dreamers in America in series of 2017-2018 DACA/Dreamers polls from CNN, Quinnipiac, Marist, CBS News, Fox News, and Washington Post/ABC News. In four CNN polls from Fall 2017 and Winter 2018, between 82-84% of the public supported a policy keeping Dreamers in the U.S. The CNN numbers echo those from other 2017-2018 national polls from Quinnipiac, Marist, CBS News, Fox News, and Washington Post/ABC News – each of which found that at least 80% of the public supported protecting and legalizing Dreamers.
