AUSTIN — A new survey of Texas adults found bipartisan majorities support several proposals addressing undocumented immigration, including legal status for some long-term undocumented immigrants, a path to citizenship for certain immigrants brought to the United States as children, and measures intended to reduce illegal immigration.
The survey was conducted by the University of Maryland's Program for Public Consultation as part of its Common Ground in the Battlegrounds? series, which examines areas of bipartisan agreement on policy issues in competitive states and congressional districts.
Among Texas respondents, 72% said they favor offering legal status to undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States for years and have not committed a crime if they pay a penalty and any taxes they owe. Support was 80% among Democrats and 62% among Republicans.
The survey also found 80% overall support for providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and have not committed a serious crime. Support was 85% among Democrats and 75% among Republicans.
For undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of a crime, 87% of respondents favored deportation. That included 85% of Democrats and 93% of Republicans.
Steven Kull, director of the Program for Public Consultation, said the findings show support among both parties for reducing the number of people living in the United States without legal status through a combination of legal pathways and enforcement.
“Bipartisan majorities favor reforms that would reduce the number of immigrants living in the US without legal status, but not through mass deportation,” Kull said.
The survey also examined proposals intended to reduce illegal immigration for employment.
An overall 82% of respondents supported requiring employers to verify the legal status of new employees through the federal E-Verify system while increasing the number of work visas based on labor demand. Support was 84% among Democrats and 83% among Republicans.
Another proposal — hiring several hundred additional immigration judges and staff to reduce the time asylum seekers wait for court hearings — received 75% overall support. The proposal was supported by 82% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans.
The proposals included in the survey were based on legislation introduced in Congress.
The Texas survey was conducted May 27 through June 19 with 630 adults. The response rate was 8.4%, and the reported confidence interval was plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
The sample was obtained from multiple online opt-in panels and weighted to match the state's adult population based on factors including age, race, ethnicity, gender, education, household income, marital status and home ownership. The survey was offered in English and Spanish.
The Common Ground in the Battlegrounds? project is conducting surveys on 15 topics in 11 competitive states and 28 competitive U.S. House districts ahead of the November midterm elections. The project says its goal is to identify areas of bipartisan agreement and provide information to the public, policymakers, candidates and journalists.
The project involves the Program for Public Consultation, the Civic Innovation Center at the University of Maryland and Voice of the People. The organizations state that they do not advocate for policy positions or endorse candidates.
Readers can view the full Texas questionnaire, toplines, crosstabs and methodology, along with results from other states and congressional districts, at: https://www.publicconsultation. org/commonground- in-the-battlegrounds/ The survey release also provides access to the individual state and district results.
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