As in past years, a majority of Americans say there should be ways for immigrants who are currently living in the country illegally to stay legally if certain requirements are met – 65% say this today. But the share who say this is lower than a few years ago, with more now saying that there should not be a path to legal status and that there should be a national deportation effort.
Today, 31% of U.S. adults say there should be a national deportation effort. While this has changed little in the last year, it has risen steadily over the prior several years: In 2017, 19% backed a national deportation effort.
There have long been substantial gaps in these views between racial and ethnic groups and between Republicans and Democrats.
Views among racial and ethnic groups
While majorities across racial and ethnic groups say that undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay in the country legally if they meet certain requirements, Hispanic (83%) and Black (78%) adults are more likely than Asian (63%) and White (58%) adults to say this.
Overall, 38% of White adults and 30% of Asian adults say there should be a national effort to deport immigrants in the country illegally, while far smaller shares of Black (17%) and Hispanic (14%) adults hold this view.
Partisan views
Democrats and Democratic leaners
Nearly nine-in-ten Democrats – 86% of conservative and moderate Democrats and 93% of liberal Democrats – say there should be a way for undocumented immigrants who meet requirements to stay in the country legally.
However, support for a path to citizenship is higher among liberal Democrats (65%) than among conservatives and moderates (45%).
Republicans and Republican leaners
A 59% majority of Republicans say undocumented immigrants should not be eligible to stay in the country legally, even if they meet certain requirements, while 41% say there should be a pathway to legal status.
There are ideological differences within the GOP. About two-thirds of conservative Republicans (66%) say that undocumented immigrants should not be allowed to stay in the country legally, with 63% saying there should be a national deportation effort.
By contrast, moderate and liberal Republicans are more divided: 53% say that undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay if certain requirements are met (23% say this should include eligibility for citizenship, while 29% say it should include permanent residency but not citizenship). And 46% of Republicans in these ideological groups say undocumented immigrants should not be able to stay, including 44% who say there should be a national deportation effort.
Within the Republican coalition, there are differences by race and ethnicity as well as age in support for a national deportation effort:
- 61% of White Republicans and 53% of Asian Republicans support a national deportation effort of immigrants living in the country illegally. Smaller shares of Black (38%) and Hispanic (31%) Republicans say the same.
- While nearly two-thirds of Republicans ages 65 and older (65%) say there should be a national deportation effort, there is less support among younger age groups. For instance, 46% of Republicans 18 to 34 say this.
Across demographic groups in the Democratic coalition, there is little support for a national deportation effort of immigrants who are currently in the country illegally.
More Americans now say undocumented immigrants should not be allowed to stay in the U.S. – and that there should be a national deportation effort – than said this a few years ago. This overall shift is driven by changing GOP attitudes. As a result, the partisan gap in these views is wider than in the past.
Eight years ago, 34% of Republicans and 8% of Democrats said immigrants in the U.S. illegally should not be allowed to stay and there should be national deportation effort (a 26 percentage point gap).
Today, 56% Republicans and 8% of Democrats say this – a 48-point gap.
Actions related to deportation enforcement
As federal efforts to deport people in the U.S. illegally have ramped up across the country, about two-thirds of Americans (65%) say it would be unacceptable to deport an immigrant in the country illegally to a country other than their home country, while a third say this would be acceptable.
But parties are split on these views:
- 86% of Democrats say it would be unacceptable to deport an immigrant in the U.S. illegally to a different country if they cannot return to their home country.
- A 55% majority of Republicans say this type of deportation would be acceptable, while 44% say it would be unacceptable.
City and state cooperation with federal deportation efforts
A narrow majority of Americans say it would be unacceptable for a city or state to not help federal deportation efforts in their communities (55% unacceptable, 43% acceptable).
There is a wide partisan gap on this question: 80% of Republicans say it would be unacceptable for a city or state not to help with federal efforts to deport people in their communities who are living in the U.S. illegally, while 66% of Democrats say this would be acceptable.
Religious organizations’ cooperation with federal deportation efforts
Overall, Americans say religious organizations refusing to help with deportation efforts would be acceptable – 56% say this, while 41% this would be unacceptable.
While there is also a partisan gap on this question, it is somewhat narrower than on views of city and state cooperation: 58% of Republicans say it would be unacceptable for a church or other religious organization not to help with federal efforts to deport people in their communities who are in the country illegally, while 73% of Democrats say this would be largely acceptable.
